Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services: Income Support

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the operation of the Minimum Income Guarantee.

Helen Whately: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 June 2023 to Question 188068.

Electric Scooters: Injuries

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July to Question 191416 on Electric Scooters: Injuries, if his Department has plans to collect data centrally on the number of injuries caused by e-scooters.

Helen Whately: The Department has no specific plans to collect data centrally on the number of injuries caused by e-scooters.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reform the social care charging system.

Helen Whately: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 June 2023 to Question 188067.

Liver Diseases: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2022 to Question 119579, if he will publish the Hepatobiliary Clinical Reference Group stocktake of health inequalities in liver disease commissioned by NHS England in 2021.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2022 to Question 119579 on Liver Diseases: Health Services, what steps he is taking to implement the findings of the Hepatobiliary Clinical Reference Group review of the stocktake of health inequalities in liver disease commissioned by NHS England in 2021.

Will Quince: NHS England Hepatobiliary Clinical Reference Group has formally received the stocktake of health inequalities in liver disease it commissioned in 2021. It is now working to determine an appropriate action plan to address the report’s findings. The conclusions drawn within the report will inform the update to the hepatobiliary service specification, which is currently in train.

Medical Treatments: Waiting Lists

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment for the implication for its polices of the Sub-ICB Locations with the highest waiting lists for diagnostic endoscopy procedures.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to require Integrated Care Systems review the (a) efficiency and (b) effectiveness of endoscopy services in reducing waiting times.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of NHS England’s endoscopy services at (a) reducing waiting times and (b) increasing diagnostic treatments.

Will Quince: £2.3 billion was awarded at Spending Review 2021 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years, including endoscopy services. Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst integrated care systems (ICSs), where priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.The integrated care board is ultimately responsible for planning and reviewing healthcare services in line with the needs of its population. Delivery plans for endoscopy services are owned by the sponsoring NHS trust and ICS and assured by the NHS England regional leads.

Ambulance Services: Staff

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age profile is for ambulance staff working in the NHS broken down by (a) occupation group and (b) each year since 2010.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Food: Production

Ed Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) cautions, (b) prosecutions and (c) other legal actions the Food Standards Agency took against food producers in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Diabetes: Drugs

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to (a) tackle shortages of glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists and (b) ensure an adequate long-term supply.

Will Quince: There are global supply issues with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs). The Department has issued two Medicine Supply Notifications (MSNs), the first in September 2022 advising healthcare professionals not to initiate new patients on semaglutide (Ozempic) and to only use semaglutide for its licensed indications. The second was issued in June 2023 addressing all GLP-1 RA’s including Victoza (liraglutide injection) and Rybelsus (semaglutide tablets) advising healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring these medicines.The Department’s guidance is clear that medicines which are solely licensed to treat type 2 diabetes, such as Ozempic, should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss. These medicines should only be prescribed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.GLP-1 RAs have also been added to the list of medicines that are subject to export and hoarding restrictions, to protect United Kingdom supply for UK patients.The Department has well-established processes to manage supply issues and continues to work closely with national diabetes specialists, the suppliers, wholesalers, all manufacturers of these medicines and the relevant regulatory bodies and agencies to address and resolve these issues as soon as possible.

Influenza: Vaccination

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the percentage of seasonal flu vaccinations which can be delivered by (a) Community Pharmacies, (b) General Practice, (c) other providers.

Maria Caulfield: NHS providers determine how many seasonal flu vaccines to buy each year based on their local populations, eligible cohorts and uptake ambitions for the NHS programme as outlined in the annual flu system letter. The letter, published on the 25 May 2023, is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) who review the latest evidence on flu vaccines and advise on the type of vaccine to be offered to different age groups and on which vaccines should be prioritised for various at-risk groups.General Practitioners and community pharmacists are responsible for ordering their own flu vaccines for the adult population from suppliers. These are then used to deliver the national flu vaccination programme, with deliveries phased through the season to help mitigate against risks of wastage, cold chain failure and to adequately cover the peaks and flows of local demand. In addition, Hospital Trusts are commissioned at local discretion, to further support delivery of the national flu vaccination programme, for example to women who are pregnant, long stay in-patients and those accessing outpatients' services.School Age Immunisation Services (SAIS) are commissioned regionally to deliver the school aged influenza programme in line with the annual flu system letter and amendment published on the July 3, 2023. The school age programme for 2023/24 includes primary school aged children from Reception to Year 6 and secondary school-aged children in Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. Vaccines for the children’s programme are procured nationally with SAISTARGET DATE 11/07/2023providers responsible for drawing down their own vaccines according to their schedules, capacity and demand, with deliveries phased through the season to help mitigate against risks of wastage and cold chain failure.For in detail seasonal influenza percentage uptake delivered by (a) Community Pharmacies, (b) General Practice, (c) other providers please see page 41 and 42 of the following link: Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in GP patients: winter season 2022 to 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Influenza: Vaccination

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of funding influenza vaccinations for 50 to 64 years olds; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: The Department is guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the approach to the seasonal flu vaccination programme in England. Details about the flu vaccination programme for 2023/24, including which groups will be eligible for a free vaccine and the vaccines that will be reimbursable to National Health Service providers, were published on 25 May 2023. The groups eligible for a free flu vaccine for the 2023 to 2024 season include those aged 65 years and over and those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups.During the COVID-19 pandemic, eligibility for the influenza programme was temporarily extended to include all adults aged between 50 and 64 years of age to protect the population from the potential threat of cocirculation of COVID-19 and influenza and alleviate pressure on the NHS. In the JCVI’s advice for the 2023/24 programme published in November 2022, it stated that whilst there would be a health benefit in vaccinating low risk 50- to 64-year-olds, it is uncertain whether this would be cost effective, and that the overall priority should be to extend the childhood programme in secondary schools as this would be more cost effective and likely to have a greater impact on morbidity and mortality compared with vaccinating 50- to 64-year-olds. We will continue to be guided by the JCVI on eligibility for seasonal flu vaccinationWhilst there was no quantitative assessment made of additional indirect benefits to the economy of not offering flu vaccinations to 50- to 64-year-olds this year, we did take into consideration qualitative evidence including the benefits of seasonal flu vaccination on reducing winter pressures when making our overall assessment. The department will continue to be guided by JCVI advice on cost-effectiveness.

Vaccination

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the eligibility criteria for (a) flu and (b) covid vaccines on (i) vaccine confidence and (ii) uptake rates.

Maria Caulfield: Vaccine uptake rates and public confidence in vaccines are considered as part of planning for future vaccination programmes. However, no assessment has been made of the potential impacts of changes to the eligibility criteria for flu and COVID-19 vaccines on vaccine confidence and uptake rates. This is because the primary aim of the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, including hospitalisation and mortality, and vaccination is therefore offered to those at greatest risk of serious disease.

Influenza: Vaccination

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with the Scottish government on the reasons for which they have decided to provide influenza vaccinations to people aged between 50 and 64.

Maria Caulfield: The Scottish Government is guided by the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). As a devolved power, all final policy decisions are made by the Scottish Government. Scottish Ministers wish to continue to offer an extended Seasonal Flu Immunisation Programme in 2023/24, to provide greater protection and in response to the earlier and more severe flu season experienced last winter. The United Kingdom Government remains in regular dialogue with Devolved Governments regarding public health, and works collaboratively across the UK in the provision of vaccination programmes, as evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychology: Family Courts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Health and Care Professions Council on reviewing their definition of psychologists to encompass experts used in the family courts.

Maria Caulfield: No discussions with the Health and Care Professions Council have taken place about reviewing their definition of psychologists to encompass experts used in the family courts. The criteria for determining which professionals are able to act as experts in family courts is a matter for the Ministry of Justice and the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Nurses: Pay

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether backdated nurses settlement pay will be paid to nursing staff who were employed during the 2022-2023 financial year but left NHS employment before 31 March 2023.

Will Quince: Both non-consolidated elements of the Agenda for Change deal apply to staff directly employed by a National Health Service organisation (e.g. permanent and fixed-term contracts), as set out in Annex 1 of the NHS terms and conditions of service handbook as of 31 March 2023. Any individual who was not directly employed by an NHS organisation, as defined by the criteria above, will not be eligible for the non-consolidated elements.

Psychology: Family Courts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Justice to ensure effective regulation of psychological experts providing evidence in the family courts.

Maria Caulfield: The Ministry of Justice and the HM Courts and Tribunals Service set any criteria that a professional must satisfy in order to be a psychological expert providing evidence in a family court setting. The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is the independent regulator responsible for regulating practitioner psychologists. HCPC does not regulate practitioner psychologists according to job role, however its legislation protects nine designated psychologist professional titles in law.

Health Services: Waiting Lists

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been on a waiting list for an appointment for (a) special care and (b) surgery treatments for more than one year.

Will Quince: This data is not available in the format requested.

Vaccination

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to give Integrated Care Systems flexibility to deliver bespoke vaccination programmes.

Maria Caulfield: The Government is committed to improving vaccination uptake rates to fully protect the public from vaccine preventable diseases, in part through making it as easy as possible for people to get vaccinated.There is ongoing work as part of the NHS England future vaccine strategy to look at more local solutions to vaccine delivery. This may include integrated care boards taking a more active role in vaccine delivery.

Health Services: Waiting Lists

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting list time for specialist clinical (a) care and (b) surgery was in (a) February, (b) April and (c) June 2023.

Will Quince: This data is not available in the format requested. Average waiting times for referral to treatment for elective care were 14.5 weeks in February 2023, and 13.8 weeks in April 2023. These figures relate to the average time a patient is still waiting for their treatment to begin, at the end of the given month. Official NHS England figures for June 2023 have not yet been published.

Doctors: Strikes

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of covering junior doctors' shifts with consultants during the junior doctors’ strike between 13 and 18 July 2023.

Will Quince: It is not possible to accurately estimate the costs of industrial action, in particular any action due to take place in future. Numbers of absent staff and rescheduled activity on previous strike days have been reported by NHS providers and are published on the NHS England website. We expect there to be a salary saving on strike days, but this will be outweighed by the costs in covering the shifts for those absent staff. It is not possible to know the exact costs of this cover, as it will be impacted by several factors and local circumstances, including the staff used to cover additional shifts and their pay rates. In addition to this, there will be further costs in catching up rescheduled activity and potential productivity losses on which information may only emerge over time. Given this uncertainty and the ongoing impact of industrial action, any estimate of costs for future strike action would be speculative.

Ophthalmology: Recruitment

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Workforce Plan, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of ophthalmologists in the NHS.

Will Quince: The Government recognises that there are workforce capacity challenges facing ophthalmology services, which is why we increased training places in 2022, with further places planned for 2023. This sits alongside action being taken to train existing ophthalmology staff, so they are able to work to the top of their clinical license. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by over £2.4 billion to fund additional education and training places over the next five years, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. This is a high-level plan to support the NHS workforce as a whole, covering doctors, nurses, and other key health professions. Therefore, it focuses on NHS-delivered services, such as primary care, community pharmacy and dentistry. While ophthalmologists are not explicitly covered in the plan, it does set out how the primary eye care workforce could deliver more eye care services in the community to help build capacity.

NHS: London Allowance

Anthony Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the boundaries for the High Cost Area allowance.

Will Quince: As per paragraph 4.8 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, it will be open to the NHS Pay Review Body to make recommendations on the future geographic coverage of high-cost area supplements (HCAS) and on the value of such supplements. As such, no assessment has been made by the Department with regards to a review of HCAS boundaries.

Thromboembolism

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Figure 3 in the publication entitled, Venous thromboembolism, published by NHS Resolution on 29 March 2023, what steps he is taking to support hospital staff in preventing common errors in venous thromboembolism management.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the publication entitled, Venous thromboembolism, published by NHS Resolution on 29 March 2023, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of NHS settlements relating to venous thromboembolism injuries.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published in March 2020 guidance for hospital staff and other professionals that covers diagnosing and effective treatment for people who develop deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. NHS England are actively reviewing how best to monitor venous thromboembolism prevention practices at a national level, working with key stakeholders including Thrombosis UK.

NHS: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Whether he has plans for the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework to be incorporated in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Will Quince: The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) sets out plans to train, retain and reform the National Health Service workforce to meet the demands facing the NHS over the next 15 years.We will continue to build on what we know works, including the information outlined in the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework, for example by ensuring staff can work flexibly, have access to integrated occupational health and wellbeing support, and work in a team that is well-led.In addition, to supplement local employer investment, the LTWP sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national continuing professional development funding for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. The operation of this scheme will be kept under review, to ensure subsequent funding is in line with workforce growth and inflation, well targeted and achieving the desired outcomes.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of providing NHS staff with individual learning accounts to support (a) staff gaining higher qualifications, (b) raising standards and (c) improving practice and service efficiencies delivered by staff.

Will Quince: It is the responsibility of individual employers to invest in the future of their staff and provide continuing professional development (CPD) funding.To supplement local employer investment for CPD, the Government announced in September 2019 a £210 million funding boost to provide every nurse, midwife and allied health professional (AHP) working in the National Health Service in England with a personal budget of £1,000 over three years to 2022/23.The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives and AHPs. The operation of this scheme will be kept under review, to ensure subsequent funding is in line with workforce growth and inflation, well-targeted and achieving the desired outcomes.

Gene Therapies

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Single Technology Appraisal pathway is compatible with emerging innovations including gene therapies.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates gene therapies through both its technology appraisal programme and its highly specialised technologies programmes as appropriate. NICE’s processes have been proven to be suitable for the evaluation of advanced therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs) where companies are willing to price their products in a way that represents value to the taxpayer. NICE has recommended 80% of the ATMPs it has evaluated for use by the National Health Service and they are now available for the treatment of NHS patients, including through the Cancer Drugs Fund and managed access agreements negotiated between the NHS and the manufacturer.Most recently, in April 2023, NICE recommended eladocagene exuparvovec, the first and currently only gene therapy for children with an ultra-rare genetic disorder, aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency, enabling its use on the NHS in England.

Gene Therapies

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to implement the commitment in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s methods and processes review to accept a greater degree of uncertainty in the evaluation of innovative new health technologies, including emerging cell and gene therapies.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its guidance. NICE made a number of changes to its health technology evaluation manual in January 2022 following a comprehensive review of its methods and processes, including to clarify its committees’ additional flexibility in considering uncertainty when evidence generation is difficult. NICE’s technology appraisal and highly specialised technology committees are now using the updated health technology evaluation manual for all new evaluations which began after 1 February 2022, including evaluations of cell and gene therapies.

Health Services: Staff

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were employed as health care workers in the NHS in (a) January and (b) June 2023.

Will Quince: Every month, NHS England publish data on staff working in the National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) setting and staff working in the general practice (GP) setting in England.The table below shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in HCHS and GP settings in January 2023 and April 2023. June 2023 data is not yet available.Setting Type January 2023 April 2023HCHS 1,269,228 1,280,377GP 143,012 143,948Source: NHS Workforce StatisticsMonthly data timeseries for HCHS settings can be found at the following link: https://files.digital.nhs.uk/C1/85E8AA/NHS%20Workforce%20Statistics%2C%20April%202023%20England%20Provisional%20statistics.xlsxMonthly data timeseries for GP settings can be found at the following link: https://files.digital.nhs.uk/FE/661126/GPW%20Bulletin%20Tables%20-%20May%202023.xlsx

Mental Health Services: Staff

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health workers were employed by the NHS in (a) January and (b) June 2023.

Will Quince: Every quarter, NHS England publish data on the National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) mental health workforce. The data shows that as of March 2023 (the latest data), there were 142,754 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the mental health workforce working in the HCHS setting. In December 2022, there were 138,610 FTE staff in the mental health workforceThe definition of the HCHS mental health workforce includes those who are providing or supporting the provision of mental health services. Staff are included if they have either an NHS Occupation Code or Area of Work that is related to mental health services.

Health Professions: Endoscopy

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of the endoscopy workforce to support patients with Crohn’s and colitis.

Will Quince: The NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps needed to meet the future needs of the country, including growing the workforce by: doubling the number of medical school training places, increasing GP training places by 50% and increasing adult nursing training places by 92%. NHSE are putting plans in place to train 50% more clinical endoscopists in 2023-24. This is 75 endoscopists, up from the 50 originally planned. This will ensure there are more doctors and nurse to perform procedures such as endoscopies.

Dentistry: Training

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the waiting time to be enlisted on a course accredited by Health Education England to enable dentists to perform clinical supervision of colleagues.

Neil O'Brien: NHS England are responsible for supervisors in recognised formal training programmes. Educational and clinical supervisors receive their training either before, or within three months, of the trainee commencing the programme.

Dental Services: Migrant Workers

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help facilitate the employment of dentists from overseas by NHS dental practices.

Neil O'Brien: To deliver National Health Service dental services, a dentist must be registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) and listed on the Dental Performers List (DPL) of the country in which they wish to practise.We have recently introduced legislation that enables the GDC to improve its international registration processes. The GDC is identifying the ways it considers these processes can best be improved, while maintaining the necessary standards for public protection, and is working to implement any changes over the next 12 months. In the meantime, the GDC has announced that it has tripled the number of places for Part 1 of its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) in response to the current demand, meaning there will be 600 places available for the August 2023 sitting of the ORE Part 1, instead of the usual 200.As of 1 April 2023, NHS England manages all applications to join the England DPL. This means all applicants who have not completed Dental Foundation Training in the United Kingdom are invited by NHS England to engage in a structured conversation that assesses whether they have the knowledge, skills, and experience to perform NHS primary dental services.The change is intended to accelerate the process for overseas dentists to join the DPL and start working in the NHS.

General Practitioners: Resignations

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs have left the NHS since June 2022.

Neil O'Brien: The table below shows the number of fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) who left the National Health Service between March 2022 and March 2023, the latest month for which the data is available: Full-time equivalentHeadcountFully Qualified GPs (excludes GPs in Training Grade)2,4073,681 While GPs leave the NHS, new doctors join general practice and there are 1,900 more than in 2019. Measures to refine pension tax will help to retain experienced GPs.Notes:- Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) refers to the proportion of full-time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time. In GPs in Training Grades’ contracts 1 FTE = 40 hours and in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard wMDS measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours for consistency.- Figures shown do not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.- It is not recommended that comparisons be made between quarterly or monthly figures (e.g. Mar 2016 to Sept 2016) due to the unknown effect of seasonality on workforce numbers. Any such comparisons should therefore be treated with extreme caution.- The data shows GPs who joined and/or left the cohort workforce between the beginning and end of each specified time period.- A leaver is a GP whose identifying information was present in the relevant dataset at the beginning but not at the end of the specified time period.- Please note that these figures do not capture GP migration between practices during this period.- In addition, due to data quality, a GP recorded as a leaver in these figures may have left one practice and joined another practice with poor data completion. In instances such as this, a GP will be incorrectly recorded as a leaver due to the identifying information no longer being present in the dataset. Conversely, a GP could appear in the practice cohort as a joiner but may have joined from a practice with poor data completion rather than being a new addition to the GP workforce.

Primary Health Care

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, where the money allocated for the Delivery Plan for recovering access to Primary Care has been retargeted from.

Neil O'Brien: The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care includes £645 million funding over two years to expand the services offered by community pharmacies. It retargets funding to help general practices provide better access for their patients, with £240 million going to provide digital tools, telephony and training, and also leverages existing investments in NHS.uk, the NHS App, and other IT development work. Where monies allocated are retargeted they will come from existing National Health Service budgets.

Public Health: Cost of Living

Steven Bonnar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in the cost of living on public health.

Neil O'Brien: Through the energy price guarantee and direct help for vulnerable households, government is providing help to households worth £3,300 on average – one of the most generous support packages in Europe.

Question

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help community pharmacies manage costs and workforce shortages.

Neil O'Brien: We absolutely recognise pressures in pharmacy – that’s why:We just committed £645 million, on top of the £100m investment we made last September, so that community pharmacy has the resource it needsWe have 82% more pharmacists than in 2010, and the Long Term Workforce Plan sets out our plan to increase training places for pharmacists by nearly 50% to around 5,000 by 2031We are also undertaking a series of reforms to enable the workforce to do more and use their skills fully.

NHS England: Subsidiary Companies

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many wholly owned subsidiary companies are operating within NHS England.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of wholly owned subsidiary companies operating within NHS England.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many plans for (a) new and (b) altered wholly owned subsidiary companies in the NHS are being assessed by his Department.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to update guidance for (a) NHS trusts and (b) foundation trusts on the development of wholly owned subsidiary companies.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions with NHS England on preventing NHS trusts and foundation trusts from setting up wholly owned subsidiary companies.

Will Quince: Ministers do not have a role in approving Wholly Owned Subsidiary companies created by NHS Foundation Trusts, with this role undertaken through the statutory powers and duties of NHS England. Ministers only have a role in approving subsidiaries created by NHS Trusts for income-generation purposes.The Department is not currently assessing any plans for new NHS Trust subsidiaries created for income-generation purposes. NHS England published guidance in November 2018 setting out the regulatory review process required before NHS trusts and foundation trusts can implement plans involving subsidiaries. Since the guidance was published, 48 proposals have been reported to NHS England for classification and potential review. A number of these are still ‘live’ cases where a proposal has been reported, but has not yet been reviewed and not all proposals will have been implemented.No discussions have taken place with NHS England on preventing NHS trusts and foundation trusts from setting up wholly owned subsidiary companies. NHS England are working to publish updated guidance, reflecting lessons learned on trust subsidiary reviews. There are no plans to publish a list of wholly owned subsidiary companies operating within England.

NHS England: Subsidiary Companies

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase engagement with (a) staff and (b) trade unions on the establishment of wholly owned subsidiary companies by NHS trusts and foundation trusts.

Will Quince: NHS England published guidance in November 2018 setting out the regulatory review process required before NHS trusts and foundation trusts can implement plans involving subsidiaries. As part of this review, NHS England consider engagement with staff and trade unions. NHS England routinely involve regional workforce leads in the review process where a subsidiary proposal involves changes to the workforce.NHS England work in conjunction with trusts and trade unions, setting out good practice workforce engagement and consultation guidance for trusts considering setting up or dissolving a subsidiary.

Radiology: Paediatrics

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Radiologists report Clinical Radiology Workforce Census 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings on the number of consultant paediatric interventional radiology posts in (a) the UK and (b) outside London.

Will Quince: The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) report ‘Clinical Radiology Workforce Census 2022’, published on 8 June 2023, reported that the total interventional radiology workforce grew by 15 whole time equivalent consultants, representing a 2% growth, and that there was a decrease by one consultant in paediatric interventional radiology posts.Although the Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of the RCR report, it is already taking steps to expand the clinical radiology workforce through funding commitments and has made significant progress since investment. As of March 2023, there were 3,678 full-time equivalent consultants working in the clinical radiology specialism in National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards in England. This is an increase of 174 (5.0%) since last year and 1,404 (61.8%) since March 2010.The Government has funded an additional 20 Specialty Training year six places for interventional radiologists in 2021/22 and 2022/23. Additionally, Health Education England (HEE) have recently started a new training pathway allowing trainees to start training in interventional radiology at Speciality Training year 1, directly from the foundation year.In January 2023, HEE announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year, including more than 500 in the key areas of mental health and cancer treatment.

Neurology

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has held with health boards on the treatment of functional neurological disorders.

Helen Whately: No specific discussions have been had. The majority of services for patients with functional neurological disorders (FND) are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to plan the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and funding. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of FND care to ensure that people with more complex health needs receive the best possible care.

NHS: Coronavirus

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support NHS staff affected by covid-19 following the withdrawal of additional sick pay benefits for that purpose.

Will Quince: The Department introduced temporary, non-contractual COVID-19 sickness guidance at the start of the pandemic to ensure National Health Service staff received full pay should they be advised to self-isolate or become ill with COVID-19. As we learn to live with COVID-19, this guidance has been withdrawn, and staff have been moved back to normal terms and conditions. As part of this, NHS staff have generous sick pay which can be up to six months of full pay and six months of half pay (depending on length of service).

Palliative Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to section 3 of the National Health Service Act 2006, what steps he is taking to fund the expansion of palliative care.

Will Quince: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for arranging healthcare services which meet the reasonable needs of the people for whom they are responsible, and for planning new service provision as required. This includes the level of National Health Service-funded palliative care and local hospice care.While the NHS has always been required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of the population, as part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an ICB must commission, to clarify this responsibility.

Nabiximols

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure an (a) adequate and (b) equitable supply of Sativex for people with multiple sclerosis to integrated care boards.

Will Quince: There are currently no reported supply issues concerning the licensed cannabis-based medicine Sativex. The Department has well-established processes to manage and mitigate medicine supply issues, working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, Devolved Governments and others operating in the supply chain, to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.The decision on whether to prescribe Sativex must be taken by a specialist clinician on a case-by-case basis and funding of this medicine is subject to local National Health Service decisions.On 6 September 2021, NHS England issued a reminder to NHS trusts and commissioners (now integrated care boards) of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance relating to Sativex and their responsibilities. Data from the NHS Business Services Authority indicates that dispensing of this drug in the community has almost doubled between September 21 (205 items) to March 2023 (402 items), according to the latest available data.

Neurology: Health Services

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on monitoring the initial effectiveness of the Neuroscience Transformation Programme in the fields of (a) improving specialised adult neuroscience science and (b) a new model of integrated care for neurology services.

Helen Whately: To improve specialised adult neuroscience, the NHS England Neurosciences Service Transformation Programme (NSTP) has worked with a range of stakeholders to identify what ‘good’ looks like. This includes common principles regarding access to appropriate timely services.The NSTP provides integrated care systems (ICSs) with the tools, information, and resources to support the transformation of integrated services at a local level. Outcomes include the Adult Neurology Integrated Care Board dashboard and the Neurosurgery Networks, which have led on the five Neurosurgery Recovery High Impact Changes. This work will support ICSs as they take on joint responsibility for commissioning specialised neurology and specialised neurosurgery services from April 2024.

Air Ambulance Services

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times his Department has made an estimate of the savings to the public purse attributable to charity air ambulance services in the last five years.

Will Quince: We recognise the vital role the air ambulance service plays in providing life-saving treatment to patients across the country.The National Health Service does not directly fund air ambulances, which are operated by independent charities. No such estimate has been made by the Department.

Doctors: Registration

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doctors were on the medical register in (a) December 2019 and (b) September 2022.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of doctors who have revoked their medical register status since December 2022.

Will Quince: The Department does not hold this data centrally. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom which sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to. The GMC is responsible for operational matters, including holding data on the number of doctors on the medical register, as well as the number of doctors who have revoked their status on the medical register.

Mortality Rates

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the size of waiting lists on excess deaths.

Will Quince: No formal assessment has been made.The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ outlines how the National Health Service will bring down waiting times across all elective services.To support this plan and tackle waiting lists, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity.We have met our target to virtually eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July 2022, and significantly reduced the number of patients waiting 18 months or more by April 2023 by over 91% from the peak in September 2021.

Ambulance Services: Sick Leave

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps has he taken to reduce the sickness levels of staff working in the ambulance services.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce sickness absence levels in the ambulance service.

Will Quince: NHS England publish staff sickness absence rates by organisation type. The latest data for February 2023 shows that ambulance trusts had a sickness absence rate of 7.0%. This is lower than the 7.6% rate in January 2023 and lower than the rate in February 2022 where the sickness absence rate was 8.5%.NHS England is working closely with ambulance trusts to ensure there is an effective health and wellbeing offer that has a focus on prevention. This has included working in collaboration with ambulance trusts and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives to develop rehabilitation pathways for staff who have been on long term sickness and to improve the mental health and wellbeing support available to staff. During 2022/23, a sector wide Attendance Management group chaired by West Midlands Ambulance Service and London Ambulance Service and facilitated by NHS England worked to review best practice on attendance to standardise approaches across the sector.The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan requires integrated care systems to develop and implement plans to invest in occupational health and wellbeing services. These should align with the NHS England strategy to grow occupational health and wellbeing, published earlier this year, which sets out a roadmap for the National Health Service and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for NHS staff over the next five years.

Midwives: Apprentices

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department are taking to support Maternity Support Workers undertaking midwifery apprenticeships.

Will Quince: The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets an ambition for 5% of the annual intake for midwifery training to come through apprenticeship routes (compared to under 1% currently). The National Health Service is supportive of this being higher in geographies where there is a need.

Heart Diseases: Waiting Lists

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for heart procedures.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waitlists for NHS cardiovascular care services.

Will Quince: The ‘Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care’ outlines how the National Health Service will bring down waiting times across all elective services. The plan does not detail approaches for each specialty but commits to eradicate all waits of longer than a year for elective care by March 2025, except for in the case of patient choice.To support this plan and tackle waiting lists, including those for heart procedures, the Government has committed more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity. The Department has also been supporting local areas to recover delivery of the NHS Health Check, which aims to prevent heart attacks and strokes, and detect disease earlier. It assesses the top risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and helps people to reduce their risk by supporting them to make healthier choices and access clinical care. The latest data shows that by April 2023 delivery activity had returned to pre-pandemic levels. The Department is also taking forward a programme of work to increase access to the programme, investing nearly £17 million in the development of an innovative digital NHS Health Check.

Gene Therapies

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of NHS England’s Budget Impact Test on single-dose gene therapies.

Will Quince: No assessment has been made.The Budget Impact Test is an integral part of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluation process for new interventions, including gene therapies. It assesses the financial implications of introducing a new therapy by considering factors such as patient eligibility, treatment costs, and the impact on National Health Service resources. NICE undertakes a Budget Impact Test for each individual single-dose gene therapy as part of standard NICE process.

Intensive Care: Health Professions

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support intensive care unit workers (a) with their mental health and (b) generally.

Will Quince: It is a priority for the Government to support the health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff.NHS planning guidance for 2023/24 emphasises the need to support staff, asking systems to refresh their workforce plans to improve staff experience and retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise.NHS England have developed a range of health and wellbeing initiatives which include a wellbeing guardian role, a focus on healthy working environments, empowering line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their wellbeing, and a comprehensive emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support package.NHS staff can also access NHS Practitioner Health, a national support service for staff with more complex mental health needs brought about by serious issues such as trauma or addiction.The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out how we will improve culture, leadership, wellbeing and staff retention over the next 15 years. The plan focuses on implementing actions from the NHS People Plan, improving flexible working opportunities and supporting the health and wellbeing of the NHS workforce.

Thromboembolism

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to help increase awareness among health professionals of the common signs and symptoms of blood clots.

Will Quince: NHS England has information on the signs and symptoms of a blood clot on its website.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published in March 2020 guidance that covers diagnosing and effective treatment for people who develop deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.

Palliative Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support research into palliative care (a) standards and (b) techniques.

Will Quince: The Department invests in research on palliative care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In August 2022, the NIHR announced a call to commission a new Policy Research Unit in palliative and end of life care. This Unit will undertake research on topics including care standards and techniques. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including palliative care. The usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics.

Palliative Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set up an expert group on the future of palliative with representatives from (a) hospices, (b) academia, (c) the community, voluntary and social enterprise sector, (d) NHS providers and (e) Integrated care boards.

Will Quince: There are no current plans to set up a new expert group. However, already in place is the National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership, which is made up of NHS England and 34 partner organisations with experience of, and responsibility for, end of life care.This Partnership was responsible for the refresh of the Ambitions Framework. This framework sets out the vision to improve end of life care through partnership and collaborative action between organisations at local level throughout England, by setting out six key ambitions.The Department, alongside key partners, NHS England, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices on an ongoing basis.

Palliative Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to provide training to NHS staff on providing advice to patients on palliative care.

Will Quince: NHS England is committed to the delivery of high-quality personalised palliative and end of life care to people who are dying, and those important to them, by highly trained, knowledgeable and skilful staff. This training ranges from modules and programmes available at degree and master’s level via Higher Education Institutions, through to a library of online resources to support knowledge and skills development. For example, the E-End of Life Care for All programme, comprising of 156 sessions on aspects of end of life care developed to support social care and health workers working with people at the end of lifeThe importance of training is further recognised in the NHS Long Term Plan in its commitment to roll out training to help staff identify and support palliative and end of life patients.

Medical Treatments: Young People

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce waiting times for medical treatment for children and young people.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce elective procedure backlogs in child health services.

Will Quince: Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for elective child health services, is one of this Government’s top priorities.To support elective recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity. Steps taken include increasing capacity, seeking alternative capacity in other trusts or the independent sector and engaging with patients to understand their choices.We have met our target to virtually eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July 2022, and significantly reduced the number of patients waiting 18 months or more by April 2023 by over 91% from the peak in September 2021.

Health Services: Weather

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps has he taken to provide funding for NHS winter planning for 2023-4.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS services in the winter.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions has he had with the ambulance service on reducing ambulance waiting times in winter 2023-4.

Will Quince: We have already published our ‘Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency services’, which set out the priorities and actions to be taken to support and improve performance this year, including during the winter period. This includes the ambition to improve accident and emergency wait times to 76% of patients being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours by March 2024, and to reduce Category 2 response times to 30 minutes on average this year. The plan is backed by £1 billion of dedicated funding to support additional National Health Service capacity. Ministers regularly discuss the delivery of these ambitions with NHS England, and the priorities for the winter period.

Liver Diseases: Screening

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing FibroScans in primary care to improve early diagnosis of non-alcohol related fatty liver disease.

Helen Whately: The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential merits of introducing FibroScans in primary care to improve early diagnosis of non-alcohol related fatty liver disease. However, a practice has clinical discretion to decide if a FibroScan is necessary and appropriate for a patient and can either provide directly or through a provider, typically a hospital out-patient appointment. In addition, NHS England have confirmed they have begun to assess the introduction of FibroScans through Community Diagnostic Centres. £2.3 billion is being spent to increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres by March 2025, these centres will offer a range of services, with some providing services to support liver diagnosis . This will boost capacity to diagnose liver disease and improve earlier diagnosis and health outcomes.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

China: Solar Power

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2023 to Question 185329 on China: Solar Power, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Solar Energy UK’s Solar Stewardship Initiative in reducing the use of Chinese-made solar panels sourced from companies using unethical supply chains.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2023 to Question 185329 on China: Solar Power, whether he has had discussions with Solar Energy UK on reducing the use of Chinese-made solar panels sourced from companies using unethical supply chains.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: As per our previous response dated 22 May 2023, the Foreign Secretary and his officials are in regular contact with relevant Ministers and departments on matters of national security and foreign policy. We support the UK's solar industry's main trade association, Solar Energy UK, in leading the response from business, including through their partnership with Solar Power Europe in developing and piloting the Solar Stewardship Initiative to drive a responsible, transparent, and sustainable solar value chain. Furthermore, the Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and his officials meet regularly with Solar Energy UK to discuss a range of issues relating to the solar sector, including supply chains.

China: Blue Dot Network

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to use the UK's membership of the Blue Dot Network to promote sustainable development projects in (a) Pakistan and (b) other countries taking part in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Blue Dot Network will translate existing internationally agreed quality infrastructure investment standards into a clear and evidence-based certification framework, and in doing so will attract the financial capital needed to tackle the vast infrastructure investment gap in developing countries such as Pakistan. No other certification process focuses on infrastructure in Low- or Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).  All countries, including those involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, will be able to apply for a blue dot.

China: Espionage

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Chinese counterpart on the use of spy balloons by that country.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Foreign Secretary uses his engagements with his Chinese counterpart to discuss a range of bilateral and international issues which are of importance to UK interests.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Surveillance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China. This Government Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill, the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. This department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.

Palestinians: Health Services

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support Palestinian health workers in the West Bank, in the context of recent violence.

David Rutley: We strongly condemn all forms of violence and incitement to violence. Israel must abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, including the principles of proportionality, distinction and necessity. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the importance of regularised access to healthcare with the Israeli authorities. Israel, as the occupying power, has a duty to ensure and maintain public health to the fullest extent possible. During his call on 4 July with the Israeli chargé d'affaires in London, the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, urged Israel to safeguard access to healthcare and take proactive steps to guarantee the safety of civilians during Israeli operations in the West Bank. The Foreign Secretary also emphasised the importance of the proactive protection of civilians during his call with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on 5 July. The wounded and ill in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories should be able to access the urgent medical care they need.

Israel: Palestinians

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the adequacy of the treatment of Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military.

David Rutley: We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. We continue to monitor Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We remain committed to working with the Israeli Government to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention and continue to raise this with the Israeli Ministry of Justice through our embassy in Tel Aviv. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, also frequently meets with charities and NGOs regarding issues relating to the occupation. He most recently discussed child detention in a meeting with representatives of Save The Children, Oxfam GB, Medical Aid for Palestinians, and Christian Aid on 4 July.

Iran: Uranium

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of enrichment of uranium achieved by Iran.

David Rutley: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified that, since April 2021, Iran is producing high enriched uranium (HEU) at approximately 60% enrichment. Iran has no civilian justification for enrichment at this level. In November 2022, Iran announced it would take further steps to expand its nuclear programme, including increasing its production of HEU at its underground facility at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.Iran's continued escalation of its nuclear activities threatens international peace and security and undermines the global non-proliferation system. We remain determined that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon and are considering next steps with our international partners.

Humanitarian Aid: Science

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience Grant.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience (SHEAR) programme ended in 2021. The programme's final review concluded that the programme exceeded expectations, having developed new and improved climate science and strengthened the evidence base in relation to emergency responses. The programme improved disaster resilience and humanitarian responses by advancing the monitoring, assessment and prediction of natural hazards and risks across 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Learning from SHEAR continues to be applied in our responses and planning for hazards including our emergency response to Tropical Cyclone Freddy in early 2023.

HANSHEP: Finance

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Harnessing Non-State Actors for Better Health for the Poor funding.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: In August 2022, FCDO published a Project Completion Review of the Harnessing Non-State Actors for Better Health for the Poor that provides our assessment of the effectiveness of the programme. The Review was based on routine programme monitoring reports and findings from an independent qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the programme. Overall, the programme reached around two million poor people, resulting in averting an estimated 9268 maternal and child deaths, and lessons learnt throughout the programme were used by implementors to strengthen their programme approaches in collaboration with partners.

Clinical Trials: Finance

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of funding for the Global Health Clinical Trials Initiative.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Global Health Research Team in FCDO undertake annual performance assessments of the Joint Global Health Trials scheme during the annual review process. The reviews consistently rated the programme as having met or exceeded expectations. An independent review of the programme was conducted in 2019 and concluded it is delivering on its original aim and is filling an important gap in the research landscape.The scheme has funded an ambitious portfolio of trials in global health which are delivering results to influence and change policy. To date, the scheme has made more than 120 awards. All programme assessments are published on DevTracker on the FCDO external website.

Sudan: Chevening Scholarships Programme

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support Sudanese nationals (a) who were invited to become Chevening scholars and did not receive their travel documentation before 15 April 2023 and (b) whose Chevening scholarships will end in the next 12 months.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Sudanese nationals who have been offered a Chevening award for the 2023-24 academic year and are unable to take up the scholarship due to the conflict and travel restrictions are able to defer their award to the 2024-25 academic year. Current Sudanese Chevening scholars, whose scholarships will end this year, have been informed that the FCDO will consider applications to return to another country for the two-year period, and will also consider requests to stay in the UK by applying to switch to another visa. The FCDO does not advise on visa routes and recommends scholars seek relevant guidance.

Forests and Land Use: Development Aid

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the funding entitled Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (£140 million, 2015-23) is flagship UK forest programme. It aims to catalyse private investment into sustainable businesses, creating jobs, supporting growth and protecting and restoring forests.To date, the programme has mobilised over £1 billion of private investment across 4 million hectares of land, benefiting over 250,000 people, mainly small farmers and poor rural communities in remote forest regions of developing countries.Working in this way ensures that the impact of UK funding is amplified, through mobilising a greater level of private investment, generating enhanced benefits for poor people, the climate and nature.

Sudan: Internet

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department took down the webpage entitled Register your presence in the Sudan with FCDO; and if he will put that webpage up again.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO temporarily advised British nationals to register their presence in Sudan during the crisis response. This facility was removed on 5 May. The UK Government does not routinely record the location of British nationals abroad and has no plans to reinstate the register your presence site. The UK Government are no longer running evacuation operations from Sudan. British nationals needing assistance should call the 24/7 consular assistance helpline on our Travel Advice.

Developing Countries: Debts

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help reduce debt in the global South; and whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require private creditors to participate in debt reduction in that region.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is a leader on international debt issues. We are full participants in international debt initiatives, like Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and Common Framework and as a member of the Paris Club.The UK, alongside international partners, expect private sector creditors to participate in debt restructurings on terms at least as favourable as country creditors and we remain focused on delivering UK-led contractual reforms to enhance private sector participation.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Development Aid

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the funding entitled Public Financial Management and Accountability in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The objective of the Public Financial Management and Accountability programme was to support the more effective use of public resources to better enable pro-poor service delivery and more accountable government. In 2020 and 2021 the Public Financial Management and Accountability programme supported improvements to local level government service delivery in South Kivu and North Kivu, support to Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential monitoring unit to improve tracking of education and health reform. For further details the full annual reviews for 2020 and 2021 can be found on Devtracker.

Zambia: Development Aid

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Private Enterprise Programme in Zambia Grant.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCDO development programmes are managed in accordance with FCDO's Programme Operating Framework. Annual Reviews for FCDO programmes are carried out by FCDO staff and published on the DevTracker website. For the year 2020-2021 the Private Enterprise Programme in Zambia Phase II scored an 'A+' which means that its performance moderately exceeded expectations. The 2021-2022 Annual Review is also available on DevTracker and the 2022-2023 review will be published in due course.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Development Aid

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the funding entitled Supporting peace and stability in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is committed to spending UK aid in support of sustainable peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). From 2014-2022 the UK funded the "Supporting Peace & Stability in Eastern DRC" programme. In line with the UK's commitment to aid transparency, the programme's completion report is available, open source, on DevTracker, published in July 2022. The report makes a full assessment of the programme's results and effectiveness. While delivering stabilisation programming in DRC is challenging, the report notes the programme contributed to "reducing conflict at community level and better equipped international and national partners to address DRC's myriad conflicts over the long-term".

Sudan: Aviation

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether there have been evacuation flights from the Sudan since 1 May; and how many (a) British and (b) other nationals have been evacuated from the Sudan to the UK since that date.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK co-ordinated the longest and largest evacuation of any Western country and brought 2,450 people to safety from Sudan. Between 25 April and 3 May, the UK supported the departure of 1,243 British nationals - and 1,207 other nationals - on 24 flights out of Sudan. The UK Government are no longer running any evacuation operations from Sudan.

Nigeria: Violence

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of inter-communal violence in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK recognises that security is fundamental to Nigeria's stability and growth, and we are committed to helping the Government of Nigeria to address insecurity across the country, including in the Middle Belt. In April 2023, we launched the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria programme to help Nigeria to tackle interlinked root causes of intercommunal conflict, including security, justice, and natural resource management challenges. The FCDO has also funded peacebuilding initiatives in the Middle Belt states of Plateau, Kaduna, and Benue. Our Security and Defence Partnership, which is refreshed annually, allows us to tailor our support to Nigeria's security needs and to monitor progress. At our 2022 dialogue, we enhanced our cooperation in civilian policing and promoting accountable and responsive police conduct.

Chevening Scholarships Programme: Afghanistan

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure Afghan Chevening scholars are not forced to leave the UK to go to third countries where they either have (a) no visa or (b) a temporary visa.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps ensure that Afghan Chevening scholars are not forced to live in refugee camps in other countries after their UK visas expire.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the criteria for granting indefinite leave to remain to the Afghan Chevening scholar cohort have changed since 2022.

Leo Docherty: Chevening awards were offered to Afghans resident in third countries for 2022-23.The FCDO will provide a letter of consent to current scholars whose visas in other countries have expired or will expire, allowing them to apply for another UK visa, exempting them from the normal requirement to leave the UK on completion of study, given the situation in Afghanistan.

Cabinet Office

Heart Diseases: Death

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make a comparative assessment of trends in the level of heart attack deaths in (a) the UK, (b) EU countries, (c) the US and (d) other G7 countries.

Jeremy Quin: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon Lady's Parliamentary Question of 3 July 2023 is attached. PQ 192118 dataset (xlsx, 48.7KB)UK Statistics Authority response (pdf, 158.1KB)

Cabinet Office: Surveillance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, HCWS386,whether any surveillance equipment produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China is connected to departmental core networks.

Jeremy Quin: On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks, where it had been produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China. Government departments have been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.

Veterans: Gyms

Andrew Western: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the provision of a free gym pass to veterans medically discharged from the Armed Forces.

Johnny Mercer: This Government understands the significant benefits of exercise in promoting physical and mental wellbeing. A number of local authorities offer a range of benefits to the veteran community, including access to free gym membership. The Department currently has no plans to offer free gym access to veterans across the UK.

Border Delivery Group

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the most recent meeting of the Border and Protocol Delivery Group took place; and where that meeting took place.

Alex Burghart: The Borders Group, formerly known as the Border and Protocol Delivery Group, is a group of teams within the Cabinet Office, rather than a standing body. It is responsible for coordinating the Government's approach to the border, both in relation to our leaving the EU and in developing our longer term strategy for the most effective border in the world. As a result these teams work together on an ongoing basis.

Public Sector: Construction

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of UK-made (a) clay bricks, (b) roof tiles and (c) drainage pipes in public procurement.

Alex Burghart: The driving principle behind public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money, which means the optimum combination of cost and quality over the lifetime of the project. Public sector contracting authorities are required to purchase products and services through competitive tender in accordance with public procurement legislation, and are responsible for their own commercial decisions, including the award of contracts. The Government wants UK businesses to be successful in bidding for UK public contracts. That is why we introduced the Procurement Bill, currently being considered by Parliament. This Bill will reform public procurement and make it simpler, quicker and cheaper for suppliers, including British SMEs and social enterprises, to bid for public sector contracts - lowering barriers to entry to the market. We also want UK businesses to be successful in competing for public contracts in other countries around the world, which we achieve by negotiating guaranteed market access for UK suppliers in many international free trade agreements. Our membership of the World Trade Organisation's Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) gives British businesses access to £1.3 trillion in public procurement opportunities overseas, including opportunities in some of the world's major economies.

Government Departments: Visits Abroad

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any (a) parliamentary private secretary and (b) hon. Members have travelled on overseas visits organised by Government Departments since December 2019.

Alex Burghart: As set out in the Ministerial Code, official overseas travel by a Parliamentary Private Secretary would be exceptional. There have been no approvals by 10 Downing Street for such Parliamentary Private Secretary travel under this Administration.Official overseas travel is permitted for trade envoys in line with their responsibilities. In that respect, I refer the hon. Member to the answer to him of 29 June 2023, PQ 190260.This answer also serves as a reply to the hon. Member to his recent question to the Prime Minister at the Liaison Committee.

Home Office

Refugees: Sudan

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a family reunification scheme for Sudan that is similar to the Ukraine Family Scheme.

Robert Jenrick: We recognise that some people displaced may wish to join family in the UK, and where those family members do not have a current UK visa, they can apply for one via one of our standard visa routes, which remain available, and applications can be submitted at the nearest Visa Application Centre. Guidance on how to apply for a family visa can be found at: Family visas: apply, extend or switch: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). In addition, close family members of individuals who are in the UK with permission to stay as a refugee may be eligible to apply under the family reunion arrangements. Details can be found at: Application for UK visa (family joining refugee): appendix 4 VAF4A - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Asylum: Religion

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on the religious affiliations of asylum seekers.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been submitted by people identifying as Muslim; and if she will provide a breakdown of those figures by sect.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications can be found in table Asy_D01 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’.The Home Office does not publish asylum applicants by religion. Whilst we hold information regarding the religion of asylum claimants, this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.A claimant’s religion will be established during the asylum registration process. Depending on the nature of the claim, further information regarding a claimant’s religion may be requested during a substantive asylum interview.For further information, please see: Screening and routing.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk) and Asylum interview.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Visas: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving priority to students from British Overseas Territories in the student visa application process.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to improve the student visa application process for students from British Overseas Territories.

Robert Jenrick: For students residing in the following British Overseas Territories local biometric enrolment services are available to enable customers to complete a UK visa application: the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and St Helena. Customers in the sovereign base areas of Akrotiri or Dhekelia are able to submit applications at the Visa Application Centre in Nicosia.In view of the small volumes of customers in other British Overseas Territories it is not viable to operate a Visa Application Centre or temporary biometric enrolment service. Customers in these locations are advised to submit their application at the nearest or most convenient location where such a service if offered. Full details are set on our website: https://www.gov.uk/find-a-visa-application-centreUKVI encourages all customers to apply in good time ahead of intended travel dates. Customers can also opt for one of our priority visa services, for an additional fee, where available in that location, which includes Cayman Islands and Nicosia South.UKVI considers applications in line with published service standards, and this includes factors relating to logistics timescales for the customer receiving the vignette and their returned passport.

Public Sector: Crimes of Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of (a) abuse and (b) other hostility towards public service workers were reported in the last 12 months.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of police recorded offences on ‘assaults on a constable’ and the number of ‘assaults on an emergency worker (other than a constable)’ on a quarterly basis and that can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesInformation on other public sector workers is not separately identifiable within police recorded crime.The Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and its latest estimates shows that the number of incidences of violence has fallen by 41% since the year ending March 2010, to 1.1 million incidences.The Home Office has taken a significant step to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public, via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This means the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences. This provision commenced in June 2022.

Chevening Scholarships Programme: Afghanistan

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to offer eligibility to Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme to future Chevening Alumni from Afghanistan.

Robert Jenrick: The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help relocate at-risk people in Afghanistan. To date, nearly 24,600 people have been brought to safety, this includes the first individuals to be relocated under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).Under the first stage of Pathway 3, 1,500 places were made available to at risk people from three groups, who directly supported the UK and international community’s efforts in Afghanistan: British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni. Our immediate focus is on ensuring their resettlement.Beyond the first stage of Pathway 3, we will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk. Further detail will be set out in due course.We recognise there are many vulnerable individuals who remain in Afghanistan and the region. Unfortunately, the capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions about who will be prioritised have to be made.

Immigration Bail: Migrant Workers

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether restrictions on the right to work can be lifted while an individual is on immigration detention bail.

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people on immigration detention bail can request restrictions on their right to work be lifted.

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether financial support is available for the dependents of an individual on immigration detention bail whose right to work has been withdrawn.

Robert Jenrick: The number and type of immigration bail conditions to impose will vary depending on the circumstances of the individual case. If the person being granted immigration bail does not have any leave to enter or remain in the UK, it will be appropriate to impose a bail condition restricting work in the majority of cases. An asylum seeker, or failed asylum seeker with outstanding protection-based further submissions, whose claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own, may be granted permission to work. Those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation list. Further information is set out in the published HO guidance - Permission to work and volunteering for asylum seekers. Asylum seekers and failed asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are eligible for support under section 95 or section 4 of the Immigration & Asylum 1999 Act. This would also include dependents of an asylum seeker or a failed asylum seeker on immigration bail.

Visas: Afghanistan

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to expedite visa applications in cases involving Afghan nationals (a) whose family reunion visa applications have not been responded to within her Department's 60-day service standard, (b) who have provided medical evidence that they are suffering from (i) suicidal inclination and (ii) other mental ill-health and (c) where a family member referred to in the application is at risk of deportation to Afghanistan from (A) Pakistan and (B) another third country; if she will hold discussions with the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on a family reunion case of an Afghan national; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: The Government’s refugee family reunion policy provides a safe and legal route to bring families together.We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications. We are reviewing processes to streamline decision making.We prioritise all applications where the application has been made by an unaccompanied child under the age of 18. We will also prioritise applications where there is an evidenced urgent or compelling reason.I would be happy to look into this case for you if the Hon. Member provides detail in writing.

Asylum: Finance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of eligibility criteria for legal claims relating to section 95 claims on asylum seekers.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of automatic renewal of Section 95 asylum support applications on six monthly basis while an individual's asylum claim is being determined.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she has make an assessment of the potential merits of automatic renewal of Section 95 asylum support applications in the context of the volume of pending asylum claims.

Robert Jenrick: Legal aid has been and will continue to be available for asylum cases, for victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery, for separated migrant children and for immigration cases where someone is challenging a detention decision.Where asylum support is granted, that individual will remain in receipt of asylum support until a decision is taken to discontinue the support. This could be where the person is no longer destitute, their asylum claim has been determined or where they no longer meet the conditions of support. There is no time limit or renewal period.

Visas: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many student visa applications her Department received from citizens of British Overseas Territories in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Robert Jenrick: Our published data can be found in the available Migration Statistics on GOV.UK: Why do people come to the UK? To study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Police: Buildings

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) the local police service or (b) the Exchequer benefits from the sale of former police buildings.

Chris Philp: It is the responsibility of Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including Mayors who exercise PCC or equivalent functions, to take decisions around their resourcing and estates. They are best placed to make decisions with their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.Under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, PCCs have a functional power to do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of their functions including the acquisition or disposal of property (including land). Capital receipts from the sale of capital assets are retained by the PCC and can be used to repay loan debt or to finance new capital expenditure.

Money Laundering: Sanctions

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Suspicious Activity Reports were submitted in the first quarter of financial year 2023-24; and how many of them relate to sanctions.

Tom Tugendhat: The NCA publishes such information in its Annual SARs report.Suspicious Activity Report (SARs) Annual Report 2022 - National Crime Agency

Offenders: Deportation

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals given sentences of imprisonment for public protection have been deported in each of the last five years.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) are published in table Ret_D03 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to December 2022. An FNO is someone who is not a British citizen and is, or was, convicted in the UK of any criminal offence, or convicted abroad for a serious criminal offence. We do not publish information about whether FNOs have served prison time or not. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Asylum: Children

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish weekly statistics on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children accommodated in hotels.

Robert Jenrick: We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.We do not plan to publish weekly statistics on the number of children accommodated in hotels.The National Transfer Scheme has seen 4,875 children transferred to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2023, which is over six times the number of transfers in the same time frame in previous years, (October 2019 – June 2021 there were 793 transfers).

Nitrous Oxide: Misuse

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislation making it a criminal offence to be in possession of NOS canisters.

Chris Philp: The Government has committed to control nitrous oxide as a Class C drug before the end of the year.We will bring forward legislation as soon as possible, but this will remain subject to Parliamentary procedure.

Asylum: Sudan

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Sudanese national asylum seekers are waiting for a decision on their application as of 1 July 2023; and what the (a) median and (b) longest waiting time was for that group.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Sudanese nationals have been returned to Sudan on the basis of failed claims for asylum in 2023; and whether her Department considers Sudan to be a safe country for such returns from 15 April 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum and returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.Data on asylum applications awaiting a decision, by nationality, can be found in table Asy_D03 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to March 2023. Data as at 30 June 2023 will be published on 24 August 2023.The Home Office does not currently publish data on the waiting times of asylum applications receiving initial decisions.Data on returns by destination are published in table Ret_D02 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to December 2022. Additionally, the Home Office publishes aggregate returns data broken down by asylum-related and non-asylum-related in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data broken down in this way. Data for asylum-related returns by nationality and destination are not available in the published statistics..The Home Office’s assessment of the general security situation in Sudan for the use of officials handling protection claims is set out in our country policy and information note on this subject of June 2023. This note is available on Gov.UK.

RAF Scampton: Radioactive Materials

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department have made an assessment of potential radioactivity levels at the former RAF base at Scampton.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office will ensure that all accommodation is safe, habitable, fit for purpose and meets all regulatory requirements.

Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Operation Gull is still operating in Northern Ireland.

Robert Jenrick: Operation Gull is an intelligence led operation and is deployed on that basis.

Overseas Students: Ukraine

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to allow Ukrainian national students who are applying to multi-year courses in higher education to extend their leave to remain for the duration of these courses.

Robert Jenrick: Ukrainians in the UK under our Ukraine Schemes can apply for other types of leave where they are eligible, including leave as a student. If their study is ongoing after their 36 months leave, they are able to apply for a student visa to extend their leave at any time during their Ukraine scheme leave. A student visa is granted for the duration of the course, so can be applied for before the end of the three-year visa to ensure a student has the leave required to complete their course. More information can be found at Ukrainian nationals in the UK: visa support - GOV.UK (Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules: Appendix Student - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). The UK Government is keeping the broader potential need for an extension of leave, for sanctuary after 36 months, under review, in line with the developments of the situation in Ukraine.

Sudan: Entry Clearances

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) Sudanese and (b) non-Sudanese nationals have been granted entry clearance since 15 April 2023; and how many of those granted clearance came to the UK.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office is committed to publishing transparency data on applications by nationality as part of the immigration quarterly statistics release, which is available on the GOV.UK website.The next quarterly statistics release for Q2 (April – June 2023) is due for release in August.

Asylum: Applications

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to clear the backlog of asylum applications.

Robert Jenrick: We have taken immediate action to speed up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system. This includes simplifying guidance, reducing interview length and streamlining processes. We have more than doubled our decision makers over the last 2 years, and we are continuing to recruit more. This will take the headcount of our expected number of decision makers to 2,500 by September 2023. The latest Home Office statistics show asylum decisions are up in the year ending March 2023, with a 35% increase in asylum decisions from the previous year.

National Crime Agency: Staff

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are employed in the National Crime Agency’s (a) National Economic Crime Centre and (b) Financial Intelligence Unit as of 31 March 2023.

Tom Tugendhat: As of 31st March 2023, the total headcount for the National Economic Crime Centre, which brings together law enforcement agencies, government departments, regulatory bodies, and the private sector, was 293.8 FTE.This figure includes 171.8 FTE for the UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU), housed within the NECC, which has national responsibility for the receipt, analysis, and dissemination of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).

National Crime Agency: Staff

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff were employed in the National Crime Agency’s Combatting Kleptocracy Cell on 31 March 2023.

Tom Tugendhat: We are unable to provide details of specific capabilities and resources as they are protected for operational security reasons.

Asylum: Children

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children under (a) 18, (b) 16, (c) 14 and (d) 11 years old have been placed in Home Office arranged hotel accommodation for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (i) in Brighton and Hove (ii) in the UK since July 2021.

Robert Jenrick: There has been a significant increase in the numbers of young people making unnecessary and dangerous journeys to the UK and the Home Office has had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels in order to give some unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) emergency accommodation and support while permanent accommodation with a local authority is identified. We are determined to end the use of hotels for these young people and Home Office officials are working tirelessly with local authorities to move children into care placements through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.The NTS has seen 4,875 children transferred to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2023, which is over six times the number of transfers in the same time frame in previous years, (October 2019 – June 2021 there were 793 transfers).

National Crime Agency

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of (a) fraud and (b) money laundering investigations that are undertaken by the National Crime Agency.

Tom Tugendhat: To help increase the number of fraud and money laundering investigations that are undertaken by the National Crime Agency, the Government is increasing law enforcement investigative capacity, allocating £400 million to tackling economic crime, including fraud.As announced in the Fraud Strategy, published in May 2023, we are establishing a new National Fraud Squad, consisting of over 400 new investigators across the NCA, City of London Police and Regional Organised Crime Units. Investment into the National Fraud Squad will continue to enhance existing capabilities and increase resources to better tackle fraudsters who target the UK public and private businesses.Furthermore, in March 2023, the government published the Economic Crime Plan 2 (ECP2), to help reduce money laundering, as well recover more criminal assets, cut fraud, combat kleptocracy and drive down sanction’s evasion. ECP2 includes 475 new financial crime investigators (in addition to those announced in the Fraud Strategy) dedicated to tackling money laundering and asset recovery. Of the 475 new financial investigators, 198 will be for the NCA.

Visas: El Salvador

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the visa application process for people from El Salvador.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office contracts two commercial partners, VFS and TLS Contact, to operate its global network of Visa Application Centres (VACs) who provide application centres in over 230 locations across 138 countries.There is a biometric enrolment location in San Salvador, run by our commercial partner VFS, which normally operates two to four times per month, in line with seasonal demand, at which customers can submit their UK visa application. This provision is sufficient to meet demand levels. VFS monitor capacity and provide additional dates as necessary, to ensure appointment capacity is in line with customer demand. Customers are able to purchase a service in advance of their appointment which allows them to keep their passport with them whilst their visa application is being processed, if they require it for other purposes.

National Crime Agency

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations were conducted in each category of threat by the National Crime Agency in the first quarter of the 2023-24 financial year.

Tom Tugendhat: The NCA does not comment on the number of live investigations.

Visas: Foreign Investment in UK

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2023 to Question 190790 on Visas: Foreign Investment in UK, for what reason her assessment of the impact of the assessment of the tier one investor visa scheme was different to that provided in the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 188255 on Visas: Foreign Investment in UK.

Robert Jenrick: The question presented (190790) specifically asked for details as to what the poor economic outcomes of the Tier 1 (Investor) route were, which is why the reply of 30 June drew particular attention to the findings of the Migration Advisory Committee’s previous report into the operation of the route. That reply appears to have been incomplete and should have added that there is little evidence that this type of passive investment programme offers an effective model for delivering material value to the UK economy.Notwithstanding the closure of the Tier 1 Investor visa, the UK retains a strong immigration visa offer that supports inward investment into the UK. We have a world leading offer to ensure that overseas businesses that wish to expand into the UK market and need to transfer key personnel in order to do so can obtain work visas for that purpose, this is the type of visa programme that really matters to those making serious and impactful investments in the UK, and the sort of programme that creates real jobs and opportunities for UK citizens and it is here therefore that this government has focused its efforts.

Asylum: Mental Health Services

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mental health support is available to asylum seekers who are awaiting results of their asylum claim.

Robert Jenrick: The Government is under a legal obligation to provide support to all asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.Asylum seekers have access to free NHS care, which includes mental health services. In addition, asylum seekers can access Migrant Help, who the Home Office contract to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers, should they have an issue.

Passports: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to improve the passport application process for citizens of British Overseas Territories.

Robert Jenrick: His Majesty’s Passport Office provides passport services to British nationals across the globe. The vast majority of applicants from overseas can apply online in the same way as when applying from the UK.HM Passport Office works continually to improve its services. For example, countries and Overseas Territories where applications are currently made in-person are kept under review to help identify opportunities that may enable applications to be made online in the future.

Cosmetics: Animal Experiments

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many licenses for animal testing of cosmetic ingredients have been issued since 2019 as a result of the European Chemicals Agency ruling; and to whom those licenses were issued.

Tom Tugendhat: Animal testing of cosmetics for consumer safety has been banned in the UK since 1998 and this remains in force. On 17 May 2023 the Government announced it is going further by banning, with immediate effect, licences to test ingredients exclusively used in the production of cosmetics for the purposes of worker safety.The Home Secretary has issued a Written Ministerial Statement, which can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-05-17/hcws779.Since 2019, the Animals in Science Regulation Unit has granted seven project licences, or amendments to licences, that specifically authorise the testing on animals of chemicals for use as ingredients in cosmetics under the REACH regulations.The Home Office does not publish details of licensed establishments.

Department for Business and Trade

Department for Business and Trade: Surveillance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.

Nigel Huddleston: On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. This Government Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill, the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. This department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme: Interest Rates

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reasons the rate of interest on the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme has increased to eight per cent.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Government will receive as a result of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme interest rate being higher than the Bank of England base rate.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is a delegated scheme; as such, interest rates will depend on the specific loan agreements between a borrower and their lender. The scheme provides the lender with a government-backed, partial guarantee (80%) against the outstanding balance. The Government does not benefit from interest repayments on loans through the CBILS scheme.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme: Charities

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many and what proportion of charities that took out loans through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme have outstanding monies to pay.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department for Business and Trade has not made an estimate of the number of charities that took out loans through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and so does not have an estimate on the proportion of charities which have an outstanding balance on their loan.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme: Company Liquidations

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many businesses have gone into liquidation following the non-payment of a loan through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department for Business and Trade has not made an estimate of the number of businesses that took out loans through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) that have since ceased trading. This will be considered as part of the scheme's ongoing evaluation, which will consider the impact of CBILS on business survival.

Minimum Wage: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent estimate she has made of the level of compliance with the national minimum wage in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales.

Kevin Hollinrake: All businesses – irrespective of their size, business sector or location – are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff.The government takes enforcing the minimum wage seriously and has more than doubled the budget for compliance and enforcement to £27.8 million for 2022/23, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16.In 2021/22, HMRC returned arrears of almost £70,000 to 661 workers in Wales. Since 2015, the Government has ordered employers to repay over £100 million to over 1 million workers.

Re-employment: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of fire and rehire practices on the labour market in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales.

Kevin Hollinrake: The government does not collect data on dismissal and re-engagement. We previously asked the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service to gather evidence into how dismissal and re-engagement is being used by employers. This report was published in June 2021 and is available from https://www.acas.org.uk/fire-and-rehire-report.  The government is taking action to address the practice of dismissal and re-engagement. We have consulted on a draft Statutory Code of Practice and are currently analysing responses. The Code sets out employers’ responsibilities when seeking to change contractual terms and conditions of employment and seeks to ensure dismissal and re-engagement is only used as a last resort.

New Businesses: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to support the creation of new businesses in Newport West constituency.

Kevin Hollinrake: The government aims to make the UK the best place in the world to start, scale up and grow a business. The Start Up Loans Company, part of the Government-owned British Business Bank, provides loans and pre- and post-application support to new entrepreneurs, including a year of free business mentoring for successful applicants. As of June 2023, the scheme has provided 168 loans to businesses in Newport West to the value of £1,710,240. Additionally, the Help to Grow and GOV.UK websites contain links to the full range of government funding and information on starting up and running a business.

Construction: Carbon Emissions

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the progress of the construction industry in meeting net zero targets.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are working with the construction sector, to support a range of initiatives to reduce its emission contributions to help meet our net zero target. This includes the Construction Leadership Council’s Construct Zero initiative, which covers the design of buildings, construction processes, decarbonising plant and machinery it uses, and training in relevant skills. The Government has also worked with the industry to produce the Low Carbon Concrete Routemap, a Zero Diesel Routemap for construction sites and to revise the PAS 2080 standard for carbon management in buildings and infrastructure projects.

Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress her Department has made on bringing forward statutory instruments relating to the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she plans to bring forward secondary legislation under the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is pleased the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act received Royal Assent on 24th May 2023. The Act requires secondary legislation which is subject to the affirmative process. Those regulations will be laid in due course.

Employment Tribunals Service

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Law Commission report entitled Employment Law Hearing Structures: Report, published April 2020, what progress he has made on extending the time limit for all employment tribunal claims to six months.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government continues to keep of Employment Tribunal time limits under review.Any decision to extend Employment Tribunal time limits will need to take account of the effect on the wider justice system, as well as the effect on Acas, who are responsible for conducting early conciliation.

Department for Education

Education: Finance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether funding for Priority Education Investment Areas has been agreed.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's expected timescale is for when initiatives to improve school attendance will commence using Priority Education Investment Areas funding.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from Priority Education Investment Areas has been allocated to attendance initiatives.

Nick Gibb: Funding for the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) has been agreed and announced. Details have been published and can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-investment-areas/local-needs-fund.The Local Needs Fund is providing up to £42 million in PEIAs to fund bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4. Where poor attendance has been identified as a key factor in an area, initiatives will be funded to address this. Because the mix of initiatives funded in each area reflects local need, the funding allocated to attendance projects will vary. Some projects have begun, and the remainder will commence during the rest of the calendar year. The Department will publish further details of the funding allocations for different initiatives once all the necessary grant agreements are in place.Alongside area initiatives funded through the Local Needs Fund, PEIAs are also benefitting from the Department’s wider strategy for improving attendance. The Department has published guidance setting out how we expect schools, trusts and Local Authorities to work together to improve attendance: https://viewyourdata.education.gov.uk/.The Department has employed expert attendance advisers who are playing an important role working closely with local authorities and some multi-academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and support them to develop plans to improve. Every local authority in a PEIA has been prioritised for this support.Earlier this academic year, the Department launched a £2.32 million attendance mentoring pilot to deliver intensive one-to-one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The pilot will run for three years and will support a total of 1,665 pupils in five PEIAs (Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent and Salford) with significant absence challenges. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively.The Department has also established an Alliance of national leaders from education, children’s social care and other relevant services to work together to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence. Several PEIAs are piloting similar local Alliances to share best practice and address specific area-wide challenges.

Schools: Buildings

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Audit Office report Condition of school buildings, published on 28 June, HC1516, which schools pose a risk to the safety of pupils and staff because of potential structural failure due to disrepair or unsafe building materials or methods.

Nick Gibb: Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and teachers. This is why the Department has been significantly investing in transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff. There are no open areas within schools or college buildings where the Department knows of an imminent risk to life.The Department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping school buildings safe and in good working order, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools, prioritising poor condition and potential safety issues.It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.Since March 2022, the Department has been working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to identify the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their buildings. Where RAAC is suspected, the Department’s professional surveyors carry out assessments to verify its presence, and if confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where necessary, the provision of temporary buildings. Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme, and urgent capital support.

Gender: Education

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with LGBT+ organisations on the release of transgender education guidance.

Nick Gibb: Gender is a complex and sensitive issue and the Department engages with a wide range of interested organisations in developing policy in this area, including LGBT+ organisations.The Department is working closely with the Minister for Women and Equalities to develop guidance for schools and colleges on children questioning their gender. In undertaking a public consultation on the draft guidance prior to publication, the Department will consider a wide range of views.

Primary Education: Breakfast Clubs

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary schools offer breakfast clubs to their pupils as of 3 July 2023.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to continuing support for school breakfasts, and in November 2022 the National School Breakfast Programme was extended for an additional year until the end of the summer term in 2024.The Government is investing up to £30 million in this programme overall. This funding will support up to 2,700 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing, and studies. As at November 2022, 2,170 schools were participating in the programme, of which 1,417 were primary schools. The Department is currently working with its supplier to publish updated data in due course.Schools are eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils from disadvantaged households, as measured by the income deprivation affecting children index. As at March 2023, 2,500 schools were participating in the programme.Alongside the national programme, there are several organisations such as FareShare, Magic Breakfast, Kellogg’s and Greggs providing valuable support to schools with a breakfast provision.

Schools: Buildings

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools with buildings with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Nick Gibb: The safety of pupils and staff is vital. It is the responsibility of those who run schools to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and alert us if there is a concern with a building. This is typically academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies. The Department provides support on a case by case basis, working with the sector when we are alerted to a serious safety issue.Where it is suspected that reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) is present in a school, the Department takes swift action based on professional advice.In cases where RAAC is confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where absolutely necessary, the provision of temporary buildings.The Department provides support to schools and responsible bodies and has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to keep schools safe and operational. This includes £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the Department’s School Rebuilding Programme will transform 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition.

Teachers: Performance Related Pay

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department provides performance-related pay to teachers in schools.

Nick Gibb: Following the Government’s pay reforms in September 2013, all pay awards for teachers in maintained schools have been based on performance. Pay progression linked to performance is detailed within the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document 2022, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-teachers-pay-and-conditions.

Teachers: Pay

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with teacher and school leader unions on teachers pay.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with education unions on industrial action by their members.

Nick Gibb: The Government and the education trade unions, the ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT and NEU, took part in a period of intensive talks between 17 March and 23 March 2023, with over 200 hours of Ministers’ and officials’ time spent on these talks, after which an in principle offer was made by the Government. This offer comprised a package of pay and non-pay related measures. Unfortunately, the four trade unions rejected this fair and funded offer.Following the unions’ rejection of the Government’s March pay offer, teacher pay for next year will go through an independent pay review process as usual. The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) makes recommendations on the pay of teachers in England and reports to the Secretary of State for Education and the Prime Minister.As part of the normal process, the STRB has now submitted its recommendations to the Government on teacher pay for 2023/24. The Department will be considering the recommendations and will publish its response in the usual way.The Department will continue to engage regularly with teaching and leadership unions on policy developments as usual.

Education: Boys

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to implement large-scale evaluation of the interventions aimed at increasing boys' learning in educational settings.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to improving outcomes for all pupils no matter their gender, and raising attainment for pupils is at the heart of this Government’s agenda.The Department funds and supports large scale evaluation and research into improving education and attainment through the Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF), which aims to build a high quality evidence base on what is proven to be successful in education practice, and to support schools, colleges and early years providers to access and effectively mobilise this evidence to raise attainment of disadvantaged 2 to 19 year olds. The Department recently re-endowed the EEF with £137 million in 2022 to continue to build the evidence base until at least 2032. This funding will cement the EEF’s role as a central, long-term feature of the education landscape for at least the next decade.Evidence from formal assessments, and recent reports from the Education Policy Institute and Rising Stars showed that attainment for all pupils, including boys, fell during the COVID-19 pandemic.Between its introduction in 2012 and the last assessments before the pandemic in 2019, attainment in the phonics screening check has increased significantly for boys and girls. In 2019, 78% of boys and 85% of girls met the expected standard by Year 1, compared to 54% of boys and 62% of girls in 2012. In 2022, following the pandemic, attainment in the phonics screening check was down by 6% for both boys and girls. 72% of boys met the expected standard compared to 79% of girls.At Key Stage 2, the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics increased between 2016 and the last assessments before the pandemic in 2019. 65% of pupils met the expected standard in all three subjects in 2019 (60% of boys, 70% of girls), compared to 53% in 2016 (50% of boys, 56% of girls). In 2022, following the pandemic, attainment fell among both girls and boys in all subjects except reading. However, the fall was slightly larger for girls. Girls continue to outperform boys in all subjects except mathematics.At Key Stage 4 more girls enter the full English Baccalaureate than boys, and girls continue to do better than boys across all headline attainment measures. The gap for the percentage achieving grades 5 and above in English and mathematics has narrowed from 6.6% in 2018/19 and 7.6% in 2020/21, to 5.7% in 2021/22. The widening between 2019 and 2021 was driven by girls seeing a larger increase (9.2% vs 8.2%), but the narrowing to 2022 was caused by girls having a larger decrease than boys (3.1% vs 1.2%).In response to this, the Department is continuing to take action to support schools, including increasing core schools funding at the Autumn Statement 2022. The additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement will mean that the core schools budget is a net £2 billion higher than published at Spending Review 2021 in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25.The Department continues to deliver the proposals set out in the Schools White Paper, which aim to improve outcomes for all pupils, including boys. This includes providing an excellent teacher for every child, securing high standards in curriculum, behaviour and attendance, and providing targeted support for every pupil who needs it.For teachers, the Department remains committed to delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract and retain the very best teachers. In addition, the Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024 and have recently announced a £181 million incentive package for initial teacher training. This package of support will secure more high quality teaching, which is the single most important in school factor on attainment.The Department continues to promote the use of phonics (supported by the English Hubs Programme) and support schools to offer a high quality, knowledge rich curriculum, both of which are critical to ensuring boys are able to achieve well in later life. The Government has also transformed the way mathematics is taught in schools based on the best available international evidence, including approaches from the highest performing countries in the world. Reform of the mathematics curriculum was accompanied by the introduction of a National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, which is now working with a network of 40 mathematics hubs to help local schools improve the quality of their teaching through the £100 million Teaching for Mastery programme. In addition, the Government has established the Oak National Academy, setting aside up to £43 million over the next three years to support it to provide high quality resources to schools.The Department continues to support schools through the Pupil Premium, National Tutoring Programme and Recovery Premium. More than £1 billion is available to support tutoring up to 2023/24, with a further £1 billion of Recovery Premium funding in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.The Department continues to assess the impact of these specific programmes where possible and to consider their combined impact on attainment outcomes for pupils overall, alongside the large scale research and evaluation of the EEF.

Textbooks: Procurement

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of schools that purchased books through local bookshops in the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average annual budget was for primary school libraries in the latest period for which data is available.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve library facilities in schools; and if she will create library networks for schools to share books.

Nick Gibb: ​​The National Curriculum requires teachers to encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. It also emphasises the importance of listening to, discussing, and reading for themselves a wide range of stories, poems, plays and non-fiction books.​​The Department believes that all pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge rich curriculum that promotes the extensive reading of books and other texts, both in and out of school. School libraries complement public libraries in allowing pupils to do this.Overall, core schools funding (including funding for both mainstream schools and high needs) is £3.5 billion higher in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. That is, on top of the £4 billion, year-on-year increase provided in 2022/23 – an increase of £7.5 billion, or over 15%, in just two years. It is for headteachers to decide how best to manage their budgets, including investment in resources such as library provision. This funding is not ringfenced and can include funding book corners, school libraries and librarians.​It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Many head teachers recognise the important role school libraries play in improving literacy and encouraging pupils to read for pleasure and ensure that suitable library facilities are provided. School libraries can take many forms, with some schools preferring to make books a focus in other ways, including housing them within classrooms.Given the autonomy granted to schools, the Department does not collect information on the number and proportion of schools that purchased books through local bookshops in the last 12 months, or the average annual budget for primary school libraries.

Teachers: Recruitment

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of teachers entitled to retention bursaries did not receive them in the academic years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23.

Nick Gibb: The Department is currently offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. The Department is also continuing to pay Early Career Payments to teachers who started Initial Teacher Training between 2018/19 and 2020/21. In the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic year, the Department also paid Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments.To claim these retention payments, teachers complete a short online application within the specified claim window, and the Department pays them directly if eligible. The Department is not able to confirm how many or what proportion of eligible teachers did not receive payments because the teacher workforce is fluid.For the Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments pilot, the Department estimated that uptake by eligible teachers was above 90%. The Department is continuing to assess uptake of the other retention payment schemes, and expects a similar uptake level.

Ofsted: Resignations

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted inspectors have left the regulator to join multi-academy trusts in each of the last five years.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding Ofsted received in academic years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the right honourable member for Portsmouth South directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Department for Education: Surveillance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.

Nick Gibb: On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that Departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. The Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. The Department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.

Universities: Strikes

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to require Universities to provide compensation to students who will not receive their degree mark before graduation.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with university Vice-Chancellors on the quality of education provided to university students during periods of strike action.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has held discussions with Universities on issuing degree classifications based on unmarked University work.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact of marking boycotts by lecturers on university revenue.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of legal cases arising between students and universities as a result of strike action.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to reimburse university students who have had their degree courses impacted by staff strikes.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has provided guidance to students who have not received degree classifications before they graduate.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to ensure minimum service levels at universities in the event of strikes by lecturers.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the impact of marking boycotts by university lecturers on the international reputation of English higher education institutions.

Robert Halfon: The department understands that the vast majority of students will remain unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, will receive their full results on time and progress and/or graduate as normal.The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has published research findings which surveyed 49% of higher education (HE) institutions in the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These institutions provided updated feedback on the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students at their institutions:Over 70% of HE institutions said that ‘less than 2% of students’ will be unable to graduate this summer due to the boycott.A further 20% were ‘unsure’ of the number.4% of HE institutions said ‘between 2% and 9% of students’ would be impacted.These research findings can be accessed at: https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/23june23/.On 22 June 2023, I met with Universities UK (UUK), the Russell Group, and UCEA to better understand the impact that this boycott will have on students and the mitigating actions their members are taking to protect students’ interests.I have also written to the Russell Group and UUK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students during this phase of industrial action. On 27 June 2023, I met with a number of HE representative groups to discuss the marking and assessment boycott, including the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.HE institutions are working on minimising the disruption to their students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members, and hiring external markers. Many HE institutions can award degrees when they have enough evidence of a student’s prior attainment to do so. Others will be able to assign provisional grades to students to allow them to progress and, once all papers have been marked, degree classifications will either remain as provisionally assigned or be uplifted to reflect the student’s achievements.The government believes students should be at the heart of the HE system. This is why we set up the Office for Students (OfS) to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights, and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS has published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-rights-and-welfare/student-guide-to-industrial-action/.On 12 June 2023, the OfS wrote to institutions affected by the boycott to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS will continue to monitor this ongoing situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms.Students who have complaints about their HE experience should contact their provider in the first instance. Students in England and Wales may also raise a complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which was set up to provide an alternative to the courts and is free of charge to students. Further information is available at: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.We have a world class university sector, with four institutions in the world’s top 10, and the government fully expects the UK to continue to be a major destination of choice for international students.We hope all parties can reach an agreement that delivers good value for students, staff, and universities, so further industrial action can be avoided.  The Department will continue to engage with the HE sector over the coming weeks to help better understand the boycott’s impact on students and the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.

Medicine: Education

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate with Cabinet colleagues of the number of medical students who (a) work in addition to their studies and (b) have children under the age of five that will not be eligible to access the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer in 2024-2025.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate with Cabinet colleagues of the number of STEM degree students who (a) work in addition to their studies and (b) have children under the age of five that will not be eligible to access the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer in 2024-2025.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate with Cabinet colleagues of the number of PGCE students who (a) work in addition to their studies and (b) have children under the age of five that will not be eligible to access the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer in 2024-2025.

Claire Coutinho: The department does not hold data on the number of students who are ineligible for 30 hours free childcare.In the Spring Budget 2023, the government announced a number of transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.The announcement included the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer, through which eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks per year from when their child is 9 months old, to when they start school. The key objective of this measure is to support parental participation in the labour market, which is why the offer is conditional on work.All students who work in addition to their studies and earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at national minimum/living wage, and under £100,000 adjusted net income per year, will be eligible for this offer. If they are unable to meet this threshold, they will remain eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education, which is available to all 3 and 4 year olds regardless of family circumstances.The department recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provide a range of support for students in further or higher education to support them with childcare.Support available to full-time students with dependent children includes the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance. Entitlement to these grants is based on a student’s household income.For additional financial support, since September 2020, all eligible full-time nursing, midwifery, paramedic and other allied health profession students have been able to receive a non-repayable training grant through the NHS Learning Support Fund of £5,000 per academic year. Eligible full-time students with child dependants can also access a further £2,000 per academic year through the Learning and Support Fund. Eligible students studying part-time receive a pro-rated amount of support depending on their intensity of study compared to a full-time course.Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be found at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.

Students: Public Transport

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the cost of public transport on students' (a) finances and (b) mobility.

Robert Halfon: The department continually monitors the impact of rising prices on students. The department recognises that the availability of student accommodation has been impacted by the current financial backdrop and that this can create additional transport costs for students. This is why the government has continued to increase living costs support each year with a 2.3% increase to maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for the 2022/23 academic year, and a 2.8% increase for the 2023/24 academic year.There is £276 million of Student Premium and Mental Health funding available this 2023/24 academic year, to support students who need additional help, including disadvantaged students. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.The department works with the Office for Students to ensure universities support students in hardship using both hardship funds and drawing on the Student Premium as higher education (HE) providers have established their own hardship funds, which allow discretionary funds to be paid to students who are in need.Decisions on student finance will have to be taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.

Out-of-School Education

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of pupils who are registered with a state-funded school spend less than two days a week in a placement with an unregistered alternative provider.

Claire Coutinho: The department collects information via the alternative provision census on pupils aged 2-18 which local authorities have placed in unregistered providers. Since the 2022/23 academic year, the department has also collected information via the school census on placements made by schools, with the first mandatory collection being within the spring census.The published data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2022-23. The information is not readily available from this source in the form requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Overseas Students: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage more students from Overseas Territories to study at UK universities.

Robert Halfon: Since 2007, persons who have settled status on arrival in the UK, and who come to the UK from specified British Overseas Territories, have been eligible for home fee status.Since 2022/23, the department has extended this offer so that those starting designated full time and part time undergraduate courses, are also now eligible for tuition fee loans in England if they meet the residency requirements. This requires that they have been ordinarily resident in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and/or specified British Overseas Territories throughout the three year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course, with at least part of that period having been spent in the British Overseas Territories.

Childcare: Bexleyheath and Crayford

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase the availability of childcare in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.

Claire Coutinho: In the government’s Spring Budget, on 15 March, the government announced a number of transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children, the economy and women. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This announcement represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.This measure will expand the free early education entitlements offer, so that eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is nine months old to when they start school.This will be rolled out in stages:From April 2024, all working parents of two-year-olds can access 15 hours per week.From September 2024, all working parents of children aged nine months up to three years old can access 15 hours per week.From September 2025, all working parents of children aged nine months up to three years old can access 30 hours free childcare per week.The government will also substantially uplift the hourly rate paid to local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers, to deliver existing free entitlements offers. In 2023/24 £204 million of additional funding will be provided, paid from September 2023, rising to £288 million by 2024/25.This will include an average of 30% increase in the two-year-old rate from September 2023, and means that the average hourly rate for two year olds will rise from the current £6 per hour in 2023/24 to around £8 per hour. The average three to four year old rate will rise in line with inflation to over £5.50 per hour from September 2023, with further uplifts beyond this.The early years workforce makes a huge contribution to young children’s lives. Supporting and growing this workforce to deliver the transformative reforms announced by the Chancellor in the Spring Budget is a priority for the department.The department will launch a new national recruitment campaign early next year to support the recruitment and retention of talented staff. Alongside this, we will consider how to introduce new accelerated apprenticeship and degree apprenticeship routes so everyone from junior staff to senior leaders can easily move into a career in the sector.The department has also launched a consultation on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to offer providers increased flexibility and alleviate known burdens, exploring giving providers more choice over how they operate and making it easier for them to deliver the EYFS. The intention is that these changes will support settings to deliver the new entitlements announced at the Spring Budget.Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the Early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The guidance can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1149556/Early_education_and_childcare_statutory_guidance_-_April_2023.pdf.The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing, including Bexley local authority, who oversee the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Local Government Finance: Pilot Schemes

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce the ten local authorities taking part in the Simplification Pathfinder Pilot.

Dehenna Davison: The government has published a plan for simplifying the funding landscape for local authorities.We will shortly be publishing further information about the Simplification Pathfinder Pilot.

Levelling Up Fund

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether Ministerial approval is required for project adjustment requests.

Dehenna Davison: We recently published our plan to simplify the funding landscape for local authorities. More information can be found here.

Buildings: Safety

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether developers that are found not to need to undertake remediation work on their properties will be allowed to leave the Responsible Actors Scheme without sanction.

Lee Rowley: The regulations provide that a developer is only be eligible for the Scheme if they have developed or refurbished specific types of residential buildings relevant to the Scheme. Once a developer has joined the Scheme, Regulation 27 enables membership to be ended without sanction where the member has substantially satisfied their obligations under the Scheme.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: EU Law

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many staff in his Department have been tasked with reviewing departmental archival holdings identifying EU regulation that had been identified by previous audits.

Dehenna Davison: We do not centrally hold information on the number of staff tasked with reviewing departmental archival holdings identifying EU regulatory burdens that had been identified by previous deregulation audits.

Council Housing: Construction

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to increase council housebuilding.

Rachel Maclean: This Government remains committed to supporting local authorities to continue to deliver their new and existing supply plans for council housing. In March of this year, we announced a preferential borrowing rate for council housebuilding from the Public Works Loan Board. We have also recently introduced greater flexibilities on how councils can spend their Right to Buy receipts to make local housing decisions. Local authorities also continue to benefit from the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme. Further changes will be introduced via the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, currently before Parliament.

Change of Use

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of changes to permitted development rights for converting commercial buildings to residential use on local high streets; and if he will publish the findings of that assessment.

Rachel Maclean: Permitted development rights for change of use to residential are making an important contribution to the delivery of new homes across the country, many of which may not have otherwise come forward through the planning system. We will continue to keep the rights under review.

Water: Pollution Control

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish funding decisions following his department’s call for evidence and expressions of interest for funding for local nutrient mitigation schemes.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of (a) planning applications that were rejected and (b) houses that were not built due to excess levels of nutrients in the ground in each of the last five years.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support local authorities to mitigate nutrient pollution for planning application approvals.

Rachel Maclean: This department has launched the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund which will boost the supply of mitigation available locally, by funding high quality bids submitted by local authorities. Funding decisions will be announced in due course.The information requested on planning refusals is not held centrally.

Housing: Construction

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the impact of the closure of modular homes manufacturers on the target to build 300,000 new homes per year.

Rachel Maclean: We are committed to delivering 300,000 homes a year and modern methods of construction (MMC) is a key part of our progress towards that target. The Government is supporting the development and use of MMC, which has the capability of unlocking a range of benefits including increased energy efficiency, quicker delivery of new homes and improving the diversity of the housing sector.

Health: Disadvantaged

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support local planning authorities to help tackle regional health inequalities through (a) active travel facilities, (b) access to healthcare and (c) other infrastructure.

Rachel Maclean: Tackling health disparities is at the heart of the Government's ambitions for Levelling Up. Through the Levelling Up White Paper, we have set out our mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy between areas.The National Planning Policy Framework expects local planning authorities to set out a strategy for the provision of sufficient infrastructure which includes community facilities such as hospitals and doctor's surgeries. Planning policies and decisions should plan positively for these, taking into account and supporting the delivery of local strategies to improve health and well-being for all of the community.With regards to transport the Framework is clear that this is matter that should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and development proposals, thereby enabling opportunities to promote walking and cycling to be identified and pursued, including supporting facilities.

Neighbourhood Plans: Finance

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to re-introduce neighbourhood planning grants.

Rachel Maclean: Policy announcements will be made in the usual way.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Surveillance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.

Dehenna Davison: It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

King Charles III: Anniversaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June to Question 189513 on King Charles III: Anniversaries, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of organising nationwide celebrations for the 75th birthday of His Majesty The King.

Stuart Andrew: DCMS has no plans for nationwide celebrations for the 75th birthday of His Majesty The King.

Football: Low Incomes

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to take steps to improve access to the English Football League for people who cannot afford (a) tickets and (b) subscription-based services.

Stuart Andrew: Ticket prices for live events and prices for subscription-based services are a matter for the relevant organiser or business. Many football clubs in the English Football League have implemented measures to assist fans with affordability, including price freezes, free access for young children, and many other concessions.

Dormant Assets Scheme

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to extend the Dormant Assets Scheme to include financial education causes.

Stuart Andrew: I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 21 June 2023, in my capacity as a Department for Culture, Media and Sport Minister, to Question UIN 190569.

Tickets: Touting

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to introduce legislative proposals to improve fairness and transparency relating to the use of dynamic pricing and secondary selling by events and ticketing sales companies.

Sir John Whittingdale: We are committed to supporting fair and transparent ticket pricing and tackling unacceptable behaviour in this market.We have strengthened the law in relation to ticketing information requirements and have introduced a criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than is allowed. We also support the work of enforcement agencies in this area, such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards, and the advertising industry's own regulator the Advertising Standards Authority.Ultimately, ticket pricing strategies are a matter for event organisers and ticketing platforms, providing they comply with relevant legislation, particularly regarding transparency to customers on how tickets are priced, in order to help consumers make a fair and informed decision.

Welsh National Opera: Finance

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Arts Council England on the potential impact of the reduction in funding on the Welsh National Opera.

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in funding from Arts Council England on the Welsh National Opera.

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the Welsh National Opera; and if she will make a statement.

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the amount of transition funding offered by Arts Council England’s to the Welsh National Opera.

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in funding from Arts Council England on the (a) staffing, (b) touring and (c) community work of the Welsh National Opera.

Sir John Whittingdale: It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.

Television: Digital Broadcasting

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her policy is on the future of digital terrestrial television.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Government remains committed to the future of digital terrestrial television (DTT), the technology which underpins Freeview. Millions of households across the UK rely on digital terrestrial television, particularly rural communities and older people.We also recognise the crucial role that digital terrestrial television services play in the wider UK broadcasting system, in particular in helping ensure that public service content continues to be widely available free-to-air to all audiences.For these reasons, the Government has legislated to secure continuity of digital terrestrial television until at least 2034.As the sector evolves, it is right that we continue to evaluate the future distribution of television services. To that end, and as set out in the Broadcasting White Paper, the Government has asked Ofcom to continue to track changes in DTT viewing and to undertake an early review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025.Before any decisions about the future of terrestrial television are made, close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, and especially those who rely on DTT as their primary means of watching television.

Treasury

Inheritance Tax

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the time taken for inheritance tax applications to be processed.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC regularly monitors and assesses the processing times for inheritance tax and all other tax applications as part of its business operation, enabling the department to address any bottlenecks or delays and to improve performance, which may include reallocating resources. Through these measures, HMRC aims to enhance efficiency and deliver against its agreed service standard of 80 per cent with 15 working days. Throughout 2022-2023 the 15 working day turnaround numbers for Inheritance Tax has been consistently above 80 per cent. HMRC publishes monthly and quarterly performance data on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates

Housing Improvement: VAT

Mark Garnier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the amount of VAT that was lost due to tax fraud by builders in the repair, maintenance and improvement sector in the last 12 months.

Mark Garnier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the amount of corporation tax that was lost due to tax fraud by builders in the repair, maintenance and improvement sector in the last 12 months.

Mark Garnier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the amount of income tax that was lost due to tax fraud by builders in the repair, maintenance and improvement sector in the last 12 months.

Victoria Atkins: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates the tax gap, which will encompass fraud, for all taxes including VAT, Corporation Tax and Income Tax. However, HMRC does not make a separate estimate of the amount of fraud within the tax gap nor is it not possible to subdivide these tax gap estimates into fraud by builders in the repair, maintenance and improvement sector in the last 12 months. Tax gap estimates for VAT, Income Tax and Corporation Tax for tax year 2021-2022 are available in chapters 2, 4 and 5, respectively, of HMRC’s publication Measuring tax gaps 2023 edition. An illustrative breakdown of the tax gap by customer behaviour is available in chapter 7. This report is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps.

NHS: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Barnett formula consequential funding the Welsh Government will receive as a consequence of the additional funding announced in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

John Glen: The UK Government is backing the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan with more than £2.4 billion funding in England over the next five years to 2028/29. As such this includes new funding beyond the current Spending Review period. Funding arrangements for the Welsh Government will continue to apply in the usual way as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy in respect of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Individual Savings Accounts

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to review the Lifetime Individual Savings Account first home property value limit.

Andrew Griffith: The Government is committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save, and to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. Data from the latest UK House Price Index demonstrates that the average price paid by first-time buyers is below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for Inner London, where the average price paid is affected by Boroughs with very high property values. The Government keeps all aspects of the savings tax regime under review.

Mortgages

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's policy paper, Mortgage Charter, updated on 5 July, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of proposed solutions in the report entitled Releasing the mortgage prisoners, published by the London School of Economics in February 2023.

Andrew Griffith: The Government understands that being unable to switch your mortgage can be extremely stressful, and, alongside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and industry, have shown we are willing to act through the introduction of a ‘modified affordability assessment’. We are also regularly in contact with key stakeholders, including recently with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mortgage Prisoners. Importantly, all lenders – including those with inactive books - are regulated by the FCA and must provide tailored support to borrowers. The Chancellor has made clear his expectation for lenders to live up to their responsibilities and support any mortgage borrowers who are finding it tough right now. The Government hopes other firms will do the right thing and sign up to the Mortgage Charter as soon as possible. However, the Government remains committed to the issue of mortgage prisoners, and we are considering the proposals put forward in the London School of Economics report very carefully. While we cannot force lenders to lend to borrowers they consider too high a risk, the Government welcomes any further practical and proportionate solutions that would meaningfully assist affected borrowers and be fair to other borrowers in the wider market.

Personal Pensions: Property

Peter Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Self invested pension schemes rules which prevent the owners of a single commercial property with living accommodation above or attached from letting that accommodation on the supply of available housing stock.

Andrew Griffith: Further to the answer given in 191375, although the current tax rules impose no direct restrictions on the types of assets that Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) can invest in, SIPPs will incur tax charges if they acquire certain assets, such as residential property. This is to prevent individuals from using tax-relieved funds to acquire property that could be of personal use, rather than to secure future retirement income.However, SIPPs are able to indirectly invest in residential property through collective investment vehicles such as Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs), where sufficient diversity of ownership and assets prevents the possibility of private use of the assets.The legislation aims to strike a balance between allowing these pension schemes to invest in a wide range of assets, and the need to protect both tax relief on pension contributions and investment returns from potential abuse.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme: Aviation

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to use funds raised from the removal of Emissions Trading Scheme free allocations for airlines to support the aviation industry to decarbonise.

Gareth Davies: On July 3, the UK ETS Authority announced free allocation will be withdrawn from airline operators participating in the Emissions Trading Scheme after 2026. Operators will then be required to purchase allowances to cover their emissions fully. The UK ETS Authority also announced that the overall number of allowances sold under the Emissions Trading Scheme will fall to be on a trajectory consistent with Net Zero. This takes the decline of free allocation to the aviation sector into account. That means that overall, no additional revenue will be raised from removing free allocations for airlines. Revenue from the sale of allowances is used to support the Government’s wider priorities, including net zero policies.

Carbon Emissions: Finance

Judith Cummins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of hypothecating revenue from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme revenue for spending on (a) industrial decarbonisation R&amp;D, (b) industrial decarbonisation project grants and (c) subsidies for low carbon production.

Gareth Davies: Receipts from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is not hypothecated towards specific projects. A floating carbon price means that revenue from the scheme is uncertain. Receipts currently help to fund public services including the Net Zero transition, such as:The £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio continues to help accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings, and industry.The £210 million Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge, delivered through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) continues to support the engineering and technical design elements of decarbonisation projects across industrial clusters.In March, the Government announced a further £185m extension to the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), increasing total grant funding available to £500 million.The Chancellor also announced in March an unprecedented £20 billion investment in the early development of CCUS to help meet the Government’s climate commitments.He also confirmed the first 15 winning projects from the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, and announced a shortlist of 20 projects for due diligence in the first electrolytic hydrogen allocation round.

Tourism: VAT

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the fiscal impact on economy of the removal of tax-free shopping for overseas visitors in summer 2023.

Gareth Davies: The Government engaged with varied stakeholders and produced analysis on the cost of the VAT Retail Export Scheme (RES) before withdrawing it. Our analysis, which took increased tourist spending into account, found that introducing worldwide VAT-free shopping would come at a fiscal cost of £2 billion each year. Furthermore, the OBR’s assessment of the previous VAT RES shopping scheme showed that its withdrawal would have a limited behavioural effect on decisions to visit, or spend, in the UK. Although there are no plans to re-introduce VAT RES, the Government keeps all taxes under review and welcomes representations to help inform future decisions on tax policy, as part of the tax policy making cycle and Budget process.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the evidence of the Information Commissioner to the EU Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on 23 May, whether her Department has had recent discussions with the European Commission on the potential impact of the Data Protection and Information (no. 2) Bill on data adequacy.

Sir John Whittingdale: We maintain an ongoing dialogue with the European Commission and have a positive, constructive relationship. We are engaging with the European Commission on our proposals in the Data Protection and Digital Information (no.2) Bill.As we have set out in our National Data Strategy, we are committed to championing the international flow of data. As part of this, we will continue to engage with the EU, both at official and Ministerial levels, with a view to ensuring our reciprocal arrangements for free flow of personal data can remain in place on an ongoing basis.

Rare Diseases: Research

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on progress on the actions in the England Rare Diseases Action Plan on the effectiveness of current incentives for innovation in rare diseases.

George Freeman: While direct discussions have not yet taken place, officials in the Office for Life Sciences, a joint unit between the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department of Health and Social Care, are working closely with officials in the Department of Health and Social Care, who are leading on delivery of the England Rare Diseases Action Plan, to ensure that innovations are utilised for the benefit of patients with rare diseases. This includes joint attendance at ministerial and working level delivery meetings, as appropriate.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Surveillance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.

George Freeman: On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. This Government Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill, the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. This department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.

Artificial Intelligence: Conferences

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many officials have been allocated to work on the Global Summit for AI Safety; and when she plans that the draft agenda for the Summit will be published.

Paul Scully: The UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety this autumn, bringing together countries to agree measures needed to mitigate the most significant AI risks. Officials across the Government are working to deliver the Summit, including teams in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as well as the UK’s diplomatic network, and work continues on the exact scope and outcomes. We look forward to updating the House further as our preparations for the Summit continue.

Department for Transport

Transport: Infrastructure

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that sustainable transport planning is a priority in building transport infrastructure on new development sites.

Jesse Norman: The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that transport issues, including opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport, should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and when considering development proposals. As committed in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the Government is embedding transport decarbonisation principles in spatial planning and across transport policymaking to ensure that new development is designed in a way that promotes sustainable travel choices. This year, Active Travel England has been established as a statutory consultee in the planning system and will help planning authorities in their work to implement good active travel design. Additionally, the Government is taking forward updates to the Manual for Streets guidance to encourage a more holistic approach to street design which assigns higher priority to the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.

Cycling: Training

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to expand Bikeability training for primary school pupils.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has increased the funding available for Bikeability each year since 2020 and is providing at least £21 million in the financial year of 2023-24.

Active Travel: Finance

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 23c of the National Audit Office report entitled Active Travel in England, HC 1376, what steps he is taking to implement that report's recommendation on funding for active travel.

Jesse Norman: The Department is carefully considering the report’s findings and recommendations. Officials from the Department and Active Travel England will be attending a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on 19 July to discuss them. The PAC will publish a report following the hearing, and the Department will publish a formal response after this.

Railways: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training railway staff receive on supporting the accessibility needs of people with disabilities.

Huw Merriman: All station operators must establish and comply with an Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) that states how they will protect the interests of disabled passengers at stations and provides an overview of the accessibility of station facilities and services. As part of the ATP, operators must ensure that all frontline staff undertake disability awareness training, and that staff must receive refresher training within 2 years of receipt of disability awareness or disability equality training. Additionally, the Department mandates through its contracts with train operators that all staff with management responsibilities have undertaken this training.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number of stations that had in-person ticket offices as of 6 July 2023.

Huw Merriman: There are currently around 980 regulated DFT Train Operating company managed ticket offices in England and Scotland. Of stations managed by DFT contracted Train Operating Companies, around 57% have ticket offices.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on what (a) timetabling and (b) route advice is available at railway station ticket machines as of July 2023.

Huw Merriman: Train operators are responsible for their ticket machines at stations. Information about timetables is available on station departure boards, train operator websites and apps, on National Rail Enquiries and passengers can request paper timetables from train operators.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a list of railway tickets that cannot be purchased from unmanned railway ticketing machines.

Huw Merriman: An estimated 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at Ticket Vending Machines or online.Industry is looking to expand diital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the devolved administrations on the potential closure of railway ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: The Secretary of State has not met with the devolved administrations to discuss ticket offices.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse over the next five years from proposals to close railway ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: This is an industry-led process. The outcomes of the consultations will not be known until the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement process has been concluded.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many rail ticket machines are in operation; and how many and what proportion of these machines accept (a) debit and credit cards and (b) cash.

Huw Merriman: Of stations managed by DFT contracted Train Operating Companies, around 84% have ticket vending machines with more than 3,200 machines in total at these stations. The Department does not hold information on the proportion of these machines which accept cash however industry have advised that the majority accept cash. We will continue to ensure that all passengers who need to use cash, or do not have access to a smartphone or the internet, can buy a ticket.

Railways: Fares

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) accessibility and (b) affordability of rail travel for people in full-time education.

Huw Merriman: As outlined in my previous response to the member on 19 June 2023, there is a range of discounts available to students in full-time education to help with the cost of rail travel. All children under 16 receive 50 per cent off all adult fares, and in 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver, extending this to 16 and 17 year-olds, meaning that a 50 per cent discount is available to children throughout their period of compulsory education and training. For students aged 18 and above, including mature students over the age of 25 studying full-time, the 16-25 railcard offers a third off most rail travel. The Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the rail network for all passengers, including students. In addition to the other railcards available, disabled students may also be eligible for a disabled persons railcard which offers additional benefits, including discounts for a companion, and can be used for travel at any time of day.

Railways: Tickets

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of rail ticketing offices closing on (a) women, (b) children, (c) people with disabilities and (d) other vulnerable groups.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the potential closure of rail ticket offices on the safety of (a) women, (b) children, (c) disabled, blind and partially sighted people, (d) other potentially vulnerable groups and (e) other rail travellers.

Huw Merriman: When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider all equality related needs and make this clear in their consultation. Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future. The Department recently hosted roundtable discussions with industry and accessibility and transport groups to discuss this matter and ensure their views are understood. We continue to engage with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee through the process.

Railways: Pay Settlements

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's negotiating priorities are in pay negotiations with train drivers unions.

Huw Merriman: The Government’s priority is to resolve the dispute and work with industry to deliver crucial reform to our railways. The Department has supported negotiations by facilitating discussions and improving communication between trade unions and the employers. There have been open and constructive discussions; however, the actions of the RMT and ASLEF are causing further disruptions to the resolution of this dispute by rejecting the fair and reasonable pay offers and not allowing their members to have a say on their future.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of train stations have both automatic ticket barriers and staffed ticketing offices.

Huw Merriman: Of stations managed by DFT contracted Train Operating Companies, 57% have staffed ticket offices and we estimate that around 12% have automatic ticket barriers. These figures are based on the most up to date publicly available data.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason railway passengers cannot purchase the same tickets from ticketing machines as they can at in-person ticket offices; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of potential ticket office closures on the availability of railway tickets.

Huw Merriman: An estimated 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at Ticket Vending Machines or online.Industry is looking to expand digital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes. When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures), TOCs are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers including tickets. As part of the proposals put forward by industry, some of the country’s busiest ticket offices will initially remain open to help passengers gradually get used to the changes they will see at stations around the country.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of ticket machines that will need to be (a) installed, (b) replaced and (c) upgraded under proposals to close railway ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives – such as ticket vending machines – in relation to the needs of all passengers. Train companies have now opened consultations, and industry plans for the installation, replacement or upgrading of ticket vending machines will be finalised once consultations have concluded.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ticket machines were out of order in each of the last 28 days.

Huw Merriman: The Department does not hold these figures. Train Operators are responsible for maintaining their ticket machines at stations.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held any discussions with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the potential impact of closing of railway station ticket offices on people with protected characteristics.

Huw Merriman: The Secretary of State has not met with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to discuss ticket offices. Department officials met with the EHRC in May.

Air Routes: Environment Protection and Health Hazards

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to assess the environmental and health impacts of concentrated flight paths.

Jesse Norman: UK airspace is an invisible but vital piece of our national infrastructure. Modernisation is long overdue and is critical to ensure that UK airspace is fit for purpose in the future. Its aim is to deliver quicker, quieter and cleaner journeys and more capacity for the benefit of those who use and are affected by UK airspace. The Airspace Modernisation Strategy (AMS) sets out the ways, means and ends of modernising airspace through nine elements that will modernise aircraft-based navigation and airspace management. A refreshed AMS was published in January 2023 which extends the strategy out to 2040, reaffirming our commitment to delivering this key infrastructure programme. Sustainability is an overarching principle of the strategy. The environmental benefits of the strategy will contribute towards our Jet Zero emissions reductions targets for the aviation sector. The environmental benefits of airspace modernisation will contribute towards our Jet Zero emissions reductions targets for the aviation sector. The Free Route Airspace deployment over the southwest of England in March 2023 saved 12,000+ tonnes of CO2/year and 150,000 nautical miles of flying, which is the equivalent of seven trips around the world. All sponsors of airspace change must follow the Civil Aviation Authority's regulatory requirements as set out in CAP1616. These requirements reflect the Government's Air Navigation Guidance 2017 which requires sponsors to consider the use of multiple flightpaths to disperse air traffic, as well as undertake full assessments of the airspace options they are considering. Noise impacts must be assessed using the Department’s Transport Analysis Guidance which includes a module for valuing the impacts of noise on health and quality of life. Airports are responsible for the specific arrangements for low-level flightpaths. Engagement with all relevant stakeholders, including communities, is an important part of CAP1616 and is crucial to the success of the airspace modernisation programme. I would encourage you and your constituents to partake in these public engagement exercises to ensure the needs of your constituency are fully accounted for in the airspace change process.

Aviation: India

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2023 to Question 190246 on India: Aviation, what the remaining restrictions are on air services between UK regional airports and points in India; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: There are no restrictions on the frequency of air services, using any type of aircraft, that might be operated between UK regional airports and New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. For air services between points in the UK and any other points in India, there is a limit of 7 services per week, using any type of aircraft.

Bus Services: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the training bus drivers receive on supporting the accessibility needs of people with disabilities.

Mr Richard Holden: Drivers of regular bus and coach services are already legally required to complete disability awareness training.The Department for Transport publishes annual bus statistics which include an assessment of the proportion of on-board staff that have taken disability awareness training.  The most recent release (2021/22) estimated that 99% of on-board staff working for local bus operators had taken this training. We are aware that statistics indicate a low level of non-compliance with these requirements. We engage regularly with DVSA regarding their enforcement of accessibility requirements.

Railways: Tickets

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department (a) has conducted and (b) plans to conduct any equality impact assessments on train operators' proposals for railway ticket office closures.

Mr Richard Holden: When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider all equality related needs and make this clear in their consultation.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vessels worked on the (a) maintenance and (b) construction of offshore wind farms on the crown estate in the latest period for which data is available; and how many and what proportion of these vessels are registered in the UK.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

Large Goods Vehicles: Safety

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken steps to help ensure that left-hand drive HGV vehicles are driven safely in the UK.

Mr Richard Holden: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) complete robust roadside inspections of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) and passenger carrying vehicles (PCV) stopped at the roadside to ensure they meet the standards required to operate on Britain’s roads. The DVSA complete checks on the drivers of those vehicles to ensure they meet the driver licensing and driver certificate of professional competence (CPC) requirements. The DVSA also complete checks to ensure drivers comply with tachograph rules and requirements to ensure they are operated safely. There is no distinction made between left-hand and right-hand vehicles; the same standards apply across all vehicles.Individual police forces are responsible for dealing with driving offences.

Cars: Insurance

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2023 to Question 191207 on Cars: Insurance, how often he met representatives of the car insurance industry to discuss insurance premiums in the last 12 months; and when the most recent meeting was held.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department regularly is involved with the insurance industry to discuss insurance premiums. The setting of premiums is a commercial decision for individual insurers and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Energy: Consumption

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress his Department has made on reducing energy consumption by 15 per cent by 2030.

Graham Stuart: Since the announcement of the 15% ambition last Autumn, the Government has introduced policies delivering reductions in energy demand by 2030, including the forthcoming Great British Insulation Scheme and the latest phases of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant. The Government established the Energy Efficiency Taskforce to devise a workplan to help reduce total UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030 across domestic and commercial buildings and industrial processes. The Taskforce aims to publish its plan later this year.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many properties have been upgraded under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme since 23 May 2022.

Graham Stuart: Since the launch of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) in May 2022 and up until the end of May 2023, 11,719 BUS grants were paid towards the installation of eligible low carbon heating technologies (air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, shared ground loop ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers). Source: Table 1.5 Boiler Upgrade Scheme Statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/boiler-upgrade-scheme-statistics-may-2023

Great British Insulation Scheme

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps his Department has taken to raise awareness about the Great British Insulation Scheme.

Graham Stuart: The marketing and delivery of the Great British Insulation Scheme is led by industry; however, the Government is looking to improve its energy advice and information service to make it easier for people to see if they are eligible for this and other government backed energy efficiency schemes. The Government will support industries' promotion of the scheme and communicate any improvements to the advice service when ready.

Great British Insulation Scheme

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many of each insulation measure obligated energy suppliers have delivered under the Great British Insulation Scheme since 30 March 2023.

Graham Stuart: The draft Order establishing the Great British Insulation Scheme in law requires first year measures to be notified to Ofgem, as scheme administrator, by 31 January 2024. Ofgem will then publish information on measures delivered under the Scheme.

Energy: Housing

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of how many retrofit coordinators there will need to be to meet home insulation targets by 2030.

Graham Stuart: The Department has not estimated the number of retrofit coordinators required by 2030, although it is clear that more will be needed. The Construction Leadership Council’s National Retrofit Strategy suggested that 50,000 retrofit coordinators will be required by 2030.

Ceramics: Carbon Emissions

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the ceramics industry to achieve net zero emissions.

Graham Stuart: The Government is committed to working with the ceramics industry to support decarbonisation. Innovative ceramics fuel mixes were supported through the Industrial Fuel Switching competition, with £300,000 for hydrogen trials in Stoke. On 5 June the Government launched the Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plans competition, which will provide support to local areas and could further support initiatives for ceramic decarbonisation. Funding for deployment of low carbon technologies, and for feasibility /engineering studies, is also available through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.

Iron and Steel: Carbon Emissions

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 14 of Progress in reducing emissions 2023 Report to Parliament by the Climate Change Committee, published in June 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that the Government has no policy to deliver on decarbonizing the steel industry.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, With reference to page 13 of Progress in reducing emissions 2023 Report to Parliament by the Climate Change Committee, published in June 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that the UK has been slow to react to the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s proposed Green Deal Industrial Plan.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the report entitled Progress in reducing emissions, published by the Climate Change Committee in June 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings in that report on the potential impact of the time expected to be taken to make a decision on the use of hydrogen for home heating on (a) the growth of supply chains for low carbon heat and (b) progress on developing infrastructure for (i) power and (ii) hydrogen.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 28 of the report entitled Progress in reducing emissions, published by the Climate Change Committee in June 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings on cross-cutting enablers.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 32 of Progress in reducing emissions 2023 Report to Parliament by the Climate Change Committee, published in June 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that an action plan for Net Zero skills is overdue.

Graham Stuart: The Government will publish a full response to the recent Climate Change Committee Progress Report this coming Autumn, as per statutory requirements.

Energy Bills Rebate: Mobile Homes

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the impact assessment for the Energy Bills Support Scheme, published on 12 October 2022, on what evidential basis table 12 indicates that there are between 85,000 and 125,000 park homes; and if he will take steps to make a more precise estimate of the number of park homes.

Amanda Solloway: The Government used information from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and from the Scottish and Welsh governments, to estimate the number of park home households eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. As the scheme is now closed to new applications, the department will not be taking any further steps to estimate the number of households who were eligible for support.

Energy Supply: Fees and Charges

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to require energy companies to change their standing charges in line with unit rates.

Amanda Solloway: Decisions about standing charges are a commercial matter for energy suppliers. The standing charge is a fixed charge that suppliers pass on to their customers to cover the cost of providing a live supply. The standing charge and unit rates are subject to the maximum permitted under the Ofgem price cap.

Car Parks: Solar Power

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to require all car parks with more than 80 spaces to install solar canopies over at least half the area they cover.

Graham Stuart: I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave on 14 June 2023 to my hon Friend the Member for North East Hampshire (Ranil Jayawardena) to Question UIN 188072. The Government is looking to facilitate and promote extensive deployment of rooftop solar on industrial and commercial property in order to make maximum usage of available surfaces for business as well as environmental and climate benefits. The Government will consider how else to extend deployment further, including with solar car parks.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Surveillance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.

Graham Stuart: On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. This Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls. At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill, the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. The department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Personal Records

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of (a) how many service record requests are outstanding and (b) the expected waiting time for a service record claim.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Serving and veteran requestors can generally expect to receive their service record within one month, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 legal deadline. During June, 88% of requests were answered on time. There are currently 370 outstanding cases.

Military Bases: Food Banks

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any food banks are operating at UK military bases.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the information. I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Veterans: Radiation Exposure

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on ensuring Nuclear Test Veterans receive their medals before Remembrance Day 2023.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 June 2023 to Question 189445 to the hon. Member for Luton South (Ms Hopkins).Veterans: Radiation Exposure (docx, 22.3KB)

Ministry of Defence: Vacancies

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts there are in his Department.

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts there are in the Defence Nuclear Organisation.

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts there are in the Submarine Defence Agency.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member’s Questions. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Ukraine: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July to Question 191735 Ukraine: Military Aid, how many of the contracts placed from Urgent Bidding Round 1 have delivered capabilities to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

James Cartlidge: The International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) announced the first major package of capabilities from Urgent Bidding Round one on 15 February 2023. Following commercial checks and negotiations to confirm specifications, contractual terms and costs, six contracts have been placed as at 7 July 2023, and two of these are planned to begin delivering capabilities to the Ukrainian Armed Forces later this month.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Inland Waterways: Access

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the success of her Department’s policy on voluntary access arrangements on inland waterways as a means to increase access on unregulated waters; and how many kilometres of new access has been secured for recreation in this Parliament.

Trudy Harrison: Given the wide range of local circumstances, the Government does not have a role in making voluntary access agreement arrangements, nor do we monitor or hold information on them, since they are tailored to local situations enabling the needs of different users to be balanced both with each other and with the property rights of landowners.

Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for bringing forward legislative proposals for each of the commitments previously set out in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill.

Mark Spencer: We will be taking forward measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill individually through other means during the remainder of this Parliament. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way. We have also launched a consultation on primate keeping standards and will bring legislation forward later this year to deliver the ban on the keeping of primates as pets.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: EU Law

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department have been tasked with reviewing departmental archival holdings identifying EU regulation that had been identified by previous audits.

Mark Spencer: Defra has the largest amount of Retained EU Law (REUL) of any Government Department, with 1,696 entries included on the REUL dashboard following its most recent update. Reviewing REUL is a priority for Defra and this requires input from all policy areas. This is a cross-Defra effort led by a central co-ordinating team supported by teams from across the department’s five directorates including the department’s specialist policy leads, analysts and lawyers covering all of Defra's policy areas. In addition to Defra’s internal efforts, external lawyers have now been appointed to support cross-Government on delivery of the REUL programme.

Animal Products: Smuggling

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to tackle illegal imports of product of animal origin.

Mark Spencer: We plan to shortly publish the final details of the Target Operating Model. This will set out our new border controls for the importation of animal products with the aim to address public health and biosecurity risks resulting from the illegal import of products of animal origin. Since September 2022, the government has provided funding of approximately £5m to tackle the illegal importation of products of animal origin, in particular to prevent the spread of African Swine fever to the UK.

Litter: Fixed Penalties

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to provide (a) support and (b) guidance to local councils on using fixed penalty notices for litter enforcement.

Rebecca Pow: The Prime Minister’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan made clear that we want to see councils use fixed penalties for environmental crimes, including littering, much more. It also set out steps we would take to help and encourage councils to do this. This includes ringfencing the income from litter and fly-tipping penalties for enforcement and clean-up activity, which we are currently consulting key stakeholders on. We have also published improved guidance to councils and others on the effective use of their fixed penalty powers for littering and related offences. The guidance outlines that enforcement action should be proportionate and should only be taken when it is in the public interest to do so. We have committed to putting this guidance on a statutory footing, giving those to which it applies a clear and explicit duty to have regard to it when exercising their enforcement functions. We are currently undertaking a research project which considers the effectiveness of the different enforcement options available to local authorities and the barriers they face in using these. This will inform future policy development in this area.

Northern Ireland Office

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2022 to Question 156551 on Terrorism: Birmingham, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill on criminal investigations associated with the Troubles.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The UK Government is determined, through the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, to deliver better outcomes for those most affected by the Troubles. The Government's view is that the Independent Commission for Information Recovery and Reconciliation (ICRIR) established by the Bill should be the sole body responsible for Troubles-related cases. This will provide a more effective approach and ensure that the Police Service of Northern Ireland and GB police forces are able to focus their capabilities on addressing contemporary policing challenges. That does not mean that all Troubles-related criminal investigations will cease. The Bill makes clear that the ICRIR will have all the necessary policing powers, with attendant coercive investigative measures, to conduct full, police-equivalent criminal investigations, more than capable of meeting the requirements of the UK’s international obligations.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to clause 37(3) of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, whether he has received notifications from the (a) Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and (b) Chief officer of any police force in Great Britain of any active criminal investigations into Troubles-related offences as of 4 July 2023.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Northern Ireland Office regularly engages on legacy with a wide range of relevant stakeholders, including the PSNI, OPONI, PPS NI, and other operational partners. As part of this engagement, the Northern Ireland Office regularly receives updates on total caseloads and the status of active investigations into Troubles-related offences.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment Schemes: Disability

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2023 to Question 187983 on Employment Schemes: Disability, for what reason the number of full-time equivalent disability employment advisers employed by his Department was lower in June 2023 than in June 2022.

Tom Pursglove: We are planning to restore the number of “Disability Employment Advisors” to our core demand level, by recruiting a significant number of people into EO graded roles.